20 Niger pre-school children perish in fire

NIAMEY, Niger

At least 20 nursery-school children died in Niger on Tuesday in a fire that trapped them in straw-hut classrooms in a school in a poor neighbourhood of the West African nation's capital, government officials said. 

"There were 20 deaths, most of them young children," said the head of Niger's fire service, Colonel Bako Boubacar. He said the origin of the fire in Niamey was unknown. 

An official of a Niger's teachers union said the school in the popular Pays Bas neighbourhood had around 800 students, including children in the nursery section. 

"The fire apparently started around the school gate. Without an emergency exit, many were trapped and students were forced to scale the wall to escape. Those that died were mostly children in the preschool," Mounkaila Halidou said. 

Another fire service official said 21 straw hut classes caught fire during the blaze and the children were trapped inside them

The inferno spread so quickly that one mourning father, who identified himself only by his first name, Abdoulaye, said it had already destroyed the classrooms by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.

“Rescuers set off rapidly and the fire was put out… but the intensity of the fire was enormous,” fire service commander Sidi Mohamed said on public television on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: Heavy gunfire near Niger presidential palace in attempted coup

Only the remains of desks and corrugated metal sheets were still visible among the debris, with charred books, pencil cases and backpacks scattered among the ashes.

“The flames were carried from classroom to classroom by the wind,” said Balaraba Ibrahim who lives nearby.

Her five-year-old niece Yasmina was among the victims.

“She had come home and then she went back to school. It’s almost as if she was answering the call of death,” Ibrahim said, breaking down.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and it was not immediately known where it started. However, teachers and parents said on Wednesday the deaths highlight the dangers of temporary classrooms set up outside.

In Niger, which ranks as the poorest country in the world under the United Nations’ 189-nation Human Development Index, straw huts are often used to make room for students in overcrowded schools.

“It is important that from here the authorities stop the classes in straw huts,” the National Union of Teachers of Niger said in a statement.

Gaya, the school director, echoed the call, while Ibrahim, the aunt of one of the victims, added: “There are plenty of empty lots the state could give us to build schools.”

Security forces have blocked off the scene while investigators searched for evidence.

Behind police tape, local residents gathered in anguish to look over what was left of the school buildings, some with their head in their hands.

“This is the worst thing that has ever happened at a Nigerien school – 20 children burned alive in no time. It’s a huge loss for Niger,” lamented local resident Amadou Seyni.