At least 27 young people many of them believed to be children, were on Wednesday morning killed by a fire disaster at an Islamic mission School in Paynesville outside of Monrovia.
The fire according to report gutted the school building near a mosque when the students were sleeping late Tuesday night.
Authorities at the national Disaster Management Agency earlier confirmed at the scene that at least 26 people were killed in the fire but the figure later raised to 28 Wednesday afternoon.
The incident is one of the deadliest in recent fire history of Liberia.
Police spokesman Moses Carter told LPR that the fire was caused by an electrical problem, but investigations are still underway.
One eyewitness was quoted by reporters as saying he heard huge of fire but couldn’t get into the building because the only way leading inside was already blocked.
” By 11:15pm I just heard heavy sound and saw the fire was blazing”, said Pastor Emmanuel Herbert of a Pentecostal church near the Mosque.
Many Liberians at the fire scene on Wednesday morning wept and stood in shock as they watched the Liberia National Red Cross ambulances retrieve the children bodies from the debris.
The victims were burnt beyond recognition.
President Weah at Funeral
Attending a brief Islamic funeral service at the United Dawah Umah Mosque in central Monrovia, president George Manneh Weah said he was saddened over the death of the young Liberians.
“As I said this morning at the mosque, it is so painful to see our young children to die”, the president stated. “On behalf of our government we want to express our deepest condolences to their families. May Allah bless their souls and rest in perpetual peace”, he adds.
The 27 victims and their two instructors were on Wednesday afternoon laid to rest at the national Muslim burial site on the Old road consistent with the Koranic law.
Ahaji Fumba Sheriff a senior Muslim head in Liberia told the BBC late Wednesday that the incident was the first of it’s kind in Liberia. He said Muslim in Liberia are still in shock over the death of the children.
The children were between the ages of 10 to 20 years.
