A bus carrying over 20 school children caught fire at Trade Moore Estate, Lugbe, along airport road in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

An eyewitness said a driver carrying the school children on a bus had parked the vehicle at the estate, but after some minutes, the bus went up in flames. The school children were said to be pupils of Little Drops School, Abuja.

While some of the residents attributed the cause of the incident to the bad condition of the bus, our reporter gathered that the driver of the bus had kept a keg of petrol in the car which caused the fire. An eyewitness said nobody had been able to unravel the mystery behind the incident.

A neighbour to one of the victims, who prefers anonymity, said many of the children have died in various hospitals while others are receiving treatment. She called on the federal government and the FCT administration to establish proper monitoring measures on private schools in the country to ensure safety of students.

“Words can’t express the pain and sadness I feel right now. A school bus went up in flames yesterday around Trade Moore axis. Two kids couldn’t be saved and they were burnt alive. I heard they were siblings. Three others who are badly burnt died today,” Mrs Betty Lo’la Amihere posted on her Facebook page.

At the time of filing this report, both the police and the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) could not confirm the incident. Findings showed that Dr Kelvin Eze, who works with Federal Ministry of Health, lost two children in the incident.

•Adapted from a LEADERSHIP Sunday report.