Skip to main content

Five Die, Scores Injured In Nigeria's IDP Camp Fire

Five people have been killed and properties destroyed after a fire broke out in a camp housing thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram violence near the Nigerian border with Cameroon on March 26

Five people have been killed and properties destroyed after a fire broke out in a camp housing thousands of people displaced by Boko Haram violence near the Nigerian border with Cameroon on March 26.

The affected camp houses about 55,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) in Rann, which is about 105 miles east of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

The embers of the fire people use to make food started the fire, according to sources.

A military source confirmed that there was a fire outbreak in the internally displaced camp.

He said, “There was a fire outbreak in the IDP camp… which killed five people, three women, and two children. Several people suffered burns, dozens of livestock were lost and around 200 makeshift tents were destroyed.”

Another source said, “The fire started in the morning while residents of the camp were making breakfast in the open and the morning breeze carried some splinters to the shelters.”

Insurgents activities Boko Haram have resulted in deaths of over 20,000 Nigerians since 2010 and displacement of millions of others.

Image