LAGOS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed in a fire accident at an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno on Saturday, an official said.
At least 3,000 shelters were destroyed, while dozens of households in the camp were displaced, said Yabawa Kolo, the director-general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, during an impact assessment visit to the Muna El-Badawy IDPs camp in Maiduguri, the state capital.
The fire, which began in a tent, gutted other shelters because there was no immediate fire service response in the camp when the accident happened, according to the official.
Kolo said fires in camps and communities where IDPs had been resettled became more and more common.
The agency was conducting an assessment to ascertain the level of damage, noting the victims were in critical need for food, shelter and other items, she said. ■
