‘Our survival a mystery’ Victims of girls’ school gutted by fire tell their story

• Victims of girls’ school gutted by fire tell their story
Survivors of the fire  that razed Government Girls’ Secondary School, Kano, have every reason to thank their stars. Seven of their roommates did not live to tell their story.  Some of the surviving victims recount  their ordeal to KOLADE ADEYEMI, on their hospital beds. 
SOME 25 surviving schoolgirls now recuperating at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, believe they have gone through “the valley of the shadow of death.” The memory of the mysterious inferno that gutted their dormitory at the Government Girls’ Secondary School, Jogana, Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State on November 29, will linger for a very long time. Seven of their colleagues, who were not so lucky, died in the late-night fire.
They have recounted how they survived the inferno that ravaged the biggest domitory – the Alhaji Sani Yaro Ahmed hostel in the school- on the fateful day as pupils prepared their homework for the following day. The state government and security agencies are still investigating the incident.
Lectures have been disrupted following the closure of the 40-year-old school by the authorities. The incident inflicted pains on the 25 pupils, who sustained first degree burns. It also left scars on many home.
Barely three days after the incident, the hostels in Government Boys’ Secondary School, Kwankwaso in Madobi Local Government of the state was razed.
The fire started at about 8am while the pupils were in their classrooms. The school lost eight rooms and the belongings of 350 pupils
Amina Ibrahim, 15-year-old Junior Secondary School III (JSS III) pupil, who sustained a first degree burns at the girls hostel, relived her ordeal. She spoke with The Nation on her sick bed at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.
“On that fateful day”, she went on, “we have had our dinner and retired to our dormitory. Those of us in JSS 3 were running through the assignments given to us by one of our teachers. Others were reading their books and we suddenly heard the screaming of other students from the other apartment. They were screaming: “Fire outbreak! Fire outbreak! The screaming caught our attention and everybody started running helter-skelter, looking for a way to escape. At that point, almost everybody was moving towards one direction and that caused a stampede.
“There was confusion everywhere; people were crying, wailing and calling for help as we rushed  towards the entrance. I attempted to jump out through the window, because at that point, the inferno had spread and thick smoke was billowing. In fact, I couldn’t remember or explain how I escaped. I only regained consciousness in this hospital.”
Senior Secondary School I (SSI) pupil, 15-year-old Mariam Yahaya Liman,  also recounted her ordeal. She narrated what transpired on the ‘dark Sunday’.
She said: “I was told by one of my classmates that on Monday, we were going to write a test. So, I took my books and started reading after the dinner. A roommate of mine had borrowed my lantern to look for something as there was power outage.
“All of a sudden, I heard some girls screaming in Hausa: “Gobara! Gobara!” Meaning: ‘Fire!, Fire!’ I immediately rushed out and stood by the door, trying to escape when I noticed that something strange was pushing us forth and back, blocking our ways. We attempted to force our way out from the burning hostel but we couldn’t as the strange force kept dragging on us.
“At that point, we have been choked and there was a stampede. The entire hostel was taken over by the fire as the embers from the roofs started pouring on us and we screamed for help. It was hell! Many of our colleagues were on the floor as we marched on one another, looking for an escape route. Many of us – including myself – escaped through the Room 7 gate where I headed and found myself outside.