Twenty schoolchildren were charred in the fire in several classrooms in thatched huts in Niamey, the Niger firefighter commander announced on the evening of Tuesday, April 13 on public television.
“21 hut classrooms caught fire.
About twenty children were caught in the fire trap
,
”
Commander Sidi Mohamed explained.
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"The help left quickly, the fire was extinguished (...) but the calorific value of the fire was enormous, which allowed the generalized conflagration of these classes and the children could not leave"
, a- he said.
According to the television citing witnesses, the fire broke out around
"4 p.m."
when the victims were in class.
The origin of the fire is unknown.
Nigerien Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou visited the scene of the tragedy on the outskirts of the capital and offered his condolences to the parents.
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In Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, to remedy the shortage of classes, the authorities are building thousands of straw huts where children take lessons, sometimes on the ground.
Fires in these classes made of highly flammable materials are frequent but rarely claim victims.
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