On 8 November 2021, a classroom in a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

caught fire in the city of Maradi in southern

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. As a result, 26 children were killed and more than fourteen were injured.

Background

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, school buildings are usually made of weeds and straw. Straw huts are frequently used as "temporary overflow structures" since Niger's school system is overwhelmed by the amount of children needing education. On 13 April 2021, a school fire in

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

killed at least 20 pupils. The secretary general of the Niger Teachers' Union, Issoufou Arzika, said that the union had warned government officials of the risks of schools built out of flammable materials. He said that " is better to hold classes under trees than in straw huts, which have become flammable graves for pupils."

Fire

According to Maradi Governor Chaibou Aboubacar, the fire in three classrooms in the

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

killed 26

preschoolers A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

between the ages of 5 and 6. Fourteen pupils were also injured in the incident, five of them in

critical condition Medical state is a term used to describe a hospital patient's health status, or condition. The term is most commonly used in information given to the news media, and is rarely used as a clinical description by physicians. Two aspects of the pati ...

. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, the fire spread rapidly as the school building.

Aftermath

Chaibou Aboubacar declared three days of mourning in Maradi.

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Niger representative Stefano Savi offered his condolences to the families of the victims and said that UNICEF would continue to work towards ensuring the safety of Niger's schools.

References

2021 fires in Africa 2021 disasters in Niger Fires in Niger School fire November 2021 in Africa School fires in Africa {{Niger-stub