A fire broke out in a school in Maradi, in the southern part of Niger, killing 26 children and injuring 13. A toll that is not yet final, explained Issoufou Arzika, general secretary of the national teachers' union.
The flames, the causes of which are to be ascertained, quickly attacked the classrooms, built with straw and wood. Many pupils were unable to escape to safety.
From today, three days of mourning will be observed in the Maradi region.
A similar tragedy had also occurred in April: twenty children aged 3, 4 and 5 had burned to death in the fire of similar classrooms in a working-class neighborhood of Niamey.
In the country, the authorities, to remedy the lack of schools, are building thousands of straw and wooden huts to allow lessons to take place.
(Unioneonline / ss)
