Burial of 20 children killed by school fire in Niger

The bodies of the 20 children who died during a fire in a school in Niger this week, were buried on Friday in Niamey.

Relatives of those killed, as well as authorities, attended the funeral of the students, whose coffins were covered with the country's flag and buried in a mass grave in the country's capital.

A fire fuelled by high winds swept through an elementary school on the outskirts of Niger's capital and killed 20 children on between the ages of 7 and 13, who were in school when the blaze erupted on Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities said the fire spread quickly through the school grounds, where around 2,000 students attend classes.

"We will do everything to make sure that it does not happen again" Niger's Interior Minister Alkache Alhada said after attending the burial of the children.

The cause of the fire was under investigation and it was not immediately known where it started.

However, teachers and parents said Wednesday that the deaths highlight the dangers of temporary classrooms set up outside. Straw huts are often used to make room for students in overcrowded schools.