One student dead as fire guts female hostel in FUGA

A 300-level student of Federal University Gashua (FUGA) in Yobe has died after a hostel fire outbreak.

Mohammed Goje, executive secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed the incident on Saturday.

Channels reports that the fire, which started around 1 pm, ripped through 29 rooms housing 301 students.

A 300-level student has been confirmed dead while several others who fled the hostel sustained injuries.

Students who required medical attention have been treated at the Gashua Specialist Hospital.

A video from the scene showed Maimuna Wazir, the university’s vice-chancellor, consoling students who escaped the fire.

Campus sources have attributed the incident to a cooking gas explosion.

But Abubakar Mamudo, the university registrar, said the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

In a statement, Mamudo said Maimuna Wazir, the university’s vice-chancellor, has temporarily suspended academic activities.

“A female hostel of the Federal University Gashua, Yobe State was gutted by fire on Saturday, 23rd March 2024 destroying a complete block of 29 rooms accommodating about 301 students,” the register was quoted as saying.

“A 300-hundred-level student of the Geography Department by the name of Shamsiya Murtala was confirmed dead in the inferno.

“Three other students who sustained injuries were treated and discharged from the general hospital, Gashua.

“The vice-chancellor and chairman of the senate has directed for the immediate closure of the university due to escalating students’ unrest on campus”.

This FUGA tragedy comes one month after a fire similarly ravaged a female hostel at Yobe State University in Damaturu.