More than 20 Dead in Deadly Overnight Fire in a School in Liberia

Twenty-six pupils and two teachers were killed in an overnight fire in their dormitory at the Liberian Koranic School in Paynesville, Monrovia in West Africa. The students, aged 10-20 years old, were learning the Quran.

The Victims Were Asleep

Zazay Ballah, one of the local residents, said that they heard some noises during their sleep. He narrated that when his wife opened their back door, the smoke was already blazing out. They tried to help by looking for water to put off the fire but was unsuccessful. The fire was almost put off by the time the firefighters arrived.

Pastor Emmanuel Herbert from a nearby church said that they were also woken up with the sounds of fire, but the blaze was already too strong for anyone to enter the building.

Cause of the Fire

Moses Carter, the spokesperson of the police, said that the victims were sleeping when the fire happened. They are looking into the angle of faulty electrical wiring as the cause of the deadly blaze.

However, Carter said that they are not ruling out the possibility that this might be a criminal act.

According to police estimate, the fire broke out about midnight.

A Weeping Nation

President George Weah arrived the next day to visit the burned dormitory. He expressed his deepest sympathies to the grieving families. He also called the families to gather strength in this trying time. He added that he understood how painful it was to lose their kids that way.

President Alpha Conde of Guinea also expressed his sympathies to the families of the victim. Some of the victims were Guinean nationals. He directed the investigators to find out the cause of the fire.

Hundreds Gathered Around the School

Onlookers made their way outside the school out of curiosity. Authorities had to wrestle with them so ambulances can pass through.

Families of the victims were also waiting for the bodies of their loved ones as rescuers carried the bodies outside the churned building.

The victims are to be buried as soon as possible following Muslim laws which states that a person must be buried as quickly as possible after their death.

Not on this Scale

Presidential spokesman Isaac Solo Kelgbeh said that Liberian authorities are all too familiar with deadly fires but “not on this scale.”

The death of the victims is considered one of the worst disasters of its kind in Liberia.

Self-Activating Fire Extinguishers

To prevent deadly accidents like this to happen, African governments should seriously consider self-activating fire extinguishers.

Fire X Fire Extinguishing Ball is one of the most advanced fire extinguishers in the world. These fire extinguishing balls can self-activate when it detects flames, therefore becoming the first line of defense from destructive fires. You can even throw it directly to the fire, so even 10-year-olds can use it.

The fire extinguishing ball could have self-activated when it detected the flames in the dormitory. Or the children could have thrown it to the fire to extinguish it.

With Fire X Fire Extinguishing Ball, it would have been another story.