A Ministerial delegation from neighboring Republic of Guinea is currently in Liberia to sympathize on behalf of President Alpha Conde and the people of that country with families of victims who lost their lives in a recent fire disaster at an Islamic boarding school in Bassa Town Community in Paynesville.
A fortnight ago, the fire incident claimed the lives of 28 persons, mainly children, and two instructors, while two other children survived and are in critical condition at the J.F. Kennedy Hospital in Sinkor Monrovia.
An official report from an investigation by the Liberia National Fire Service issued on Monday, September 30, attributed the cause of the fire to electrical shock.
Internal Affairs Minister Varney Sirleaf, in an interview with the Liberia News Agency (LINA) Monday, said the Guinean delegation sent by President Conde is led by the Head of Religious Affairs of Guinea, Alhaji Bangura, and includes the Minister of International Cooperation and African Integration, Madam Diene Kieta, and the Minister of Youth and presented a condolence message to the Government of Liberia, which he Sirleaf received.
He quoted the delegation as saying that President Conde is deeply saddened by the fire incident because he believes that whenever there is a disaster in Liberia, there is also a disaster in neighbouring Guinea.
Minister Sirleaf told LINA that the delegation also presented US$30,000 to the Liberian Government for families of the deceased victims and survivors for onward distribution.
“The amount was presented on Sunday at the 17th Street Mosque in Sinkor. I received it and passed it on to the Imam of the mosque. Parents of each deceased victim is to receive US$1,000, while the two survivors get US$500 each, and the elders of the mosque US$1, 000,” Minister Sirleaf indicated.
