Maradi, Niger, Nov 9 (AFP/APP):Aisha Ibrahim bursts into tears as she recounts how a fire ripped through the southern Niger school where she teaches, burning up classrooms made of straw and killing 26 children.
“A pupil clung to me shouting: ‘Auntie, it’s hot!’ I managed to get sand to put out the flames consuming his shirt. I saved him,” says Ibrahim of Monday’s fire.
The flames had “already ravaged the wooden beams and straw of the classrooms”, she says.
“The children who were sitting at the back rushed to get out and fell into the furnace.”
A video taken by AFP after the tragedy in the city of Maradi shows a schoolyard covered in ash, a collapsed sheet-metal roof and blackened trees.
Parents, teachers and local officials gathered together, sharing their grief.
“The children in the middle class were the most affected, they were shouting for help. Then parents who came to pick up their children helped us,” says Ibrahim.
“We were all female teachers and there were no men. We were short of solutions, but people from the surrounding area, parents, tried everything to control the flames.”
– Straw huts ban –
Rabiou Sani, father of one of the victims, was among the first to arrive.
“We saw the flames and we jumped over the wall of the school to get to the courtyard. We saw the teachers fighting the fire (with) cans and buckets of water,” he says.
The tragedy came months after 20 young children were burnt to death in a similar classroom fire in the capital Niamey.
“This tragic event has once again plunged the Nigerien people into mourning, and Nigerien schools in particular,” the government said on Monday evening.
Officials said they had decided to formally ban pre-school hut classes across the country.
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, has tried to tackle shortages of school buildings by constructing thousands of huts from straw and wood to serve as classrooms.
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