17 students have died in a fire at an unofficial Koran school in the town of Kaura Namoda in northwestern Nigeria, according to local police.
The fire destroyed the students' accommodation during the night leading up to Wednesday and left, in addition to the many dead, another 17 children with severe burns.
A teacher reports that around 100 students aged 10-16 were lying and sleeping when a fire broke out around midnight. However, it could be extinguished and the children were able to go back to sleep. But around 2 am, screams were heard and the teacher saw his students trying to flee the fire.
According to the police, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Unofficial Muslim Koran schools (madrassa) are common in predominantly Muslim northern Nigeria, where children from poor homes are sent to learn the Koran.
