Fire in Senegal Kills Child Beggars Trapped in House

DAKAR, Senegal — A child’s sandal, a charred begging bowl, some fire-singed tin plates. Little else but cinders remained Monday of the house here where 60 children were crammed in by a Muslim holy man to study the Koran — and beg.

At least nine children died in the fire late Sunday night in the dense Medina neighborhood here, residents and Senegal’s state news agency said. Seven of them were Koranic students, or talibés, as they are called here, small boys entrusted by impoverished parents to study under the holy man in the evenings and beg for him by day.

The seven had been locked in their room in the wooden dwelling and could not be saved, residents said, as flames, fanned by high winds from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, consumed the house. The other children managed to escape, they said, or had been sleeping outside.

Human rights groups say there are some 50,000 of these children here, some as young as 5, forced to beg on dangerous streets by the holy men, known as marabouts, and kept in precarious living conditions in flimsy dwellings, often given little to eat.

For years, Western rights groups and foreign documentary makers have denounced the practice. Governments here promise reforms to appease outside donors and embassies, but then backtrack in the face of opposition from religious leaders.

Within Senegal, there is sporadic pressure to end the system, and last month the government promised, again, to end forced child-begging by 2015. Human Rights Watch, which reported extensively on the practice three years ago, said Sunday’s fire underscored the urgent need for reform. In its 2010 report, the group said the children were often severely punished if they failed to meet a begging quota each day.

Cases of talibés being crushed in traffic while begging are frequently reported in the local news media, but the number of deaths in the fire made it one of the worst accidents involving the boys in recent years. The marabout was not even on the premises when the fire started, residents said.

“They were here alone,” said Ismael Gakou, 32, a shopkeeper who lives next door. “How can you leave them alone like that?”

“They read the Koran until 8 p.m., then he leaves for his apartment,” Mr. Gakou said, referring to the marabout. “He treats them badly.”

There is little electricity in the neighborhood, and residents said that an overturned candle in the boys’ room had started the fire. By the time the fire department arrived, at least 15 minutes after the alarm was raised — pushing through the warren of narrow, sandy alleys leading to the house — it was too late.

“When the fire started, the children were locked in the room,” said Awa Sow, who also lived in the one-story, 12-room house. “They were yelling. But nobody could get in.”

Hadi Sane, 30, a waitress who lives next door, saw flames begin to engulf the building around 11 p.m. “I came running,” but it was too late, she said.

“They were living there alone, 5, 10 years old,” she said. “I wouldn’t give my child up for that. They didn’t eat well, or sleep well. We’ve got to put that marabout in prison.”

The ground at her feet was blackened, and the air still smelled heavily of the fire, despite the ocean breeze. A crowd of onlookers pressed up against the site, and government officials stood around awkwardly. The state news agency said there would be an investigation.

“In the face of this tragedy, the Senegalese government must finally tackle the country’s widespread abuse and exploitation of young boys through forced begging,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement Monday. “Tens of thousands of boys continue to live and beg in extremely precarious conditions, enriching teachers who have twisted the country’s proud tradition of religious education.”

Mr. Gakou, the neighbor, saw the victims’ remains carried out early Monday in plastic bags. “The whole neighborhood is in mourning,” he said. “Nobody around here has slept.”