Niger: At Least 26 Children Perish in School Fire

Reports from Niger say at least 26 children have died in a fire outbreak in a school in the Southern part of the country. The children got roasted after a fire burnt their classroom which was made of straw.

The fire outbreak led to the deaths of 26 children, leaving 13 others with critical burns. AFP reports say a majority of the casualties of the fire are between the ages of 5 and 6.

Niger, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, has tried to fix shortages of school buildings by constructing thousands of straw and woodsheds to serve as classrooms, with children sometimes sitting on the ground.

These fragile structures have caused massive disasters across the country, often leading to serious damage to the children.

A Nigerien teacher called Arzika, talking to Aljazeera news suggested that “It is better to hold classes under trees than in straw huts, which have become flammable graves for pupils.”

The President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum meanwhile has promised to replace the wooden structures with more resistant ones to avoid future disasters.