Tuesday afternoon around 4 p.m. (local time), the children were in class in the school in the Netherlands district on the outskirts of Niamey in Niger when the fire broke out.
The fire in this straw hut school quickly spread and trapped the students.
“Twenty-one classrooms in straw huts caught fire.
About twenty children were trapped in the fire ", explained on public television the commander of the fire brigade, Sidi Mohamed, adding:" the rescuers left quickly and the fire was extinguished ... But the power of the fire was huge and the kids couldn't escape.
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FATAL FIRE AT THE NETHERLANDS SCHOOL OF NIAMEY
Sad, this news which falls at the end of the day of this Tuesday, April 13, 2021, the first day of Ramadan.
Indeed, we learn that a fire broke out around 4 p.m. at the primary school in the Netherlands district of Niamey.
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- News from Niger (@ActualitesNiger) April 13, 2021
The results are dramatic with around twenty children deceased and several injured, especially among the youngest.
For now, the causes of this fire remain unknown and an investigation has been opened, according to Actualités Niger.
Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou also went to the scene to meet families after this tragedy.
In this country which is one of the poorest in the world, half of the population is under 15 years old.
Authorities in the Sahel country have built thousands of straw huts to serve as classrooms with children sometimes sitting on the floor.
While fires in these buildings are quite common due to the flammable materials used, they are rarely proven to be fatal, according to local media.