A tragic scene played out at a public school in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, on Tuesday evening when no fewer than twenty school children were feared killed and many left injured during a fire outbreak.
Sidi Mohammed, the commander of the country’s fire service who confirmed the unfortunate incident in a statement said that the cause of the fire which claimed the life of the pupils has not been ascertained.
“21 classrooms in straw huts caught fire at about 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT). Around 20 children were trapped in the blaze.
“Rescuers set off rapidly and the fire was put out. But the power of the fire was enormous. The children were not able to escape,” the statement by Mohammed read in full.
The scene of the incident was visited by Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, Niger’s Prime Minister, who travelled to witness the tragedy on the edge of the capital to offer his condolences to the children’s parents.
