A fire outbreak at an Islamiya school in Kaura-Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State has claimed 17 lives.
All the victims were said to be Almajiri students who were burnt beyond recognition while their charred bodies littered the building.
Eyewitnesses say the fire started late on Tuesday night and raged for about three hours, leaving 16 others injured.
A resident of the area, Abdulrasaq Bello Kaura, attributed the cause of the inferno to the ignition of some stored sticks locally called kara according to Channels Television.
Narrating the incident, a source said “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, it was when they returned after the fire, they saw their body parts like legs, hands and corpses of the victims burnt beyond recognition,” the source said.
He added that the 17 dead students have been buried on Wednesday.
Speaking via telephone, the Chairman of Kaura-Namoda Local Government, Comrade Mannir Muazu Haidara, confirmed the incident but stated that he was on his way to the scene and would provide further details later.