Niger: anger and controversy after the death of 26 schoolchildren in a fire

Screenshot of images of the drama broadcast by Nigerien television.

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Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

In Niger, the emotion was great this Tuesday, November 9 in Maradi at the funeral of 26 children victims of the fire in their school.

A large crowd came to surround the parents of the students and pay a last tribute to the missing.

Several ministers were there for the occasion when the government is held responsible for this tragedy.

At issue: the so-called straw huts.

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According to a local source,

, several residents ransacked the other straw huts of the school and this Tuesday, during the funeral, the faces of the population were hard, drawn by sadness and anguish, confided a teacher on site.

Even if they are aware of the financial problems of the State, the unions demand

that the youngest children no longer study in these hut classes and demand their eventual abolition.

36,000 straw huts in the country

Building classes in permanent materials was one of President Bazoum's campaign promises, a promise not yet kept due to lack of financial means.

On Monday, in the Council of Ministers, the government decided to ban hut classes for preschoolers, that is to say children under six years old, but in Maradi, all of the deceased children were between six and nine years.

For a long time now, we have been fighting for the State to start building with final materials.

NIGER _His teachers' union problem of straw huts

Victor Mauriat

Compensation for families of victims

These hut classes which are therefore at the center of the controversy after this tragedy are however very numerous in Niger.

There are over 36,000 in the country;

provisional classes made, as their name suggests, of straw and oil.

These installations are very fragile and flammable, but have a significant advantage: that of a very low manufacturing cost.

But the population is well aware of the risks associated with these straw huts.

Last April in Niamey, 20 small children died in a similar fire.

This time, they are at least 26. The toll is still provisional and there are many injured.

Note that the government will pay substantial compensation to the families of the victims of the fire.

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