Tragedy struck in the Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State, as a fire outbreak at an Islamiya school has claimed the lives of at least 17 Almajiri students.
The chairperson of Kaura-Namoda Local Government, Mannir Haidara, confirmed the incident to Channels Television on Wednesday in a telephone conversation.
He said details about the incident would be provided later.
However, a resident of the area, Abdulrasaq Bello Kaura, said the fire which started on Tuesday night also injured 16 other students of the school.
According to Kaura, the fire raged for about three hours.
He also said the cause of the fire was reported to be some stored stick, known as kara in native Hausa Language.
Bello stated that the incident happened inside a study hall at Mallam Ghali Tsangaya School.
He said the fire was severe because of corn and millet stalks stored at the school premises.
“It happened at Makaranta Mallam Ghali, inside their study hall. There are about 100 of them in the house, after they evacuated the students, they thought none of them remained inside the house,” the source said.
“It was when they returned after the fire, they started seeing their legs, hands, they got burnt beyond recognition.”
Bello added that the 17 dead students were buried on Wednesday
