Fire sweeps through Niger preschool, killing at least 25 children

3 yıl önce

DAKAR, Senegal — At least 25 children have died after a preschool in southwestern Niger caught fire Monday, rousing outrage across the West African country over unsafe conditions for students.

Fourteen others were injured in the blaze that devoured a thatched-roof classroom in the city of Maradi, the Ministry of National Education said. The victims were all younger than seven.

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The deaths moved Niger to ban preschool classes in straw buildings, officials said. Such temporary classrooms have multiplied in recent years as Niger has run out of space in sturdier buildings.

“This tragic event once again brings mourning to the Nigerien people,” Abdou Dangaladima, Niger’s secretary general of the government, said in a statement.

Education advocates in the nation of 25 million have long criticized such makeshift learning sites, slamming them as overcrowded and highly flammable.

Another blaze in April killed 20 preschool children in the capital, Niamey.

“No child should ever be in danger when learning in school,” said Stefano Savi, UNICEF’s representative in Niger.

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