Lagos, Nigeria, Mar 17, 2020 / 09:23 am
The principal and a security guard at Bethlehem Girls High School in Lagos died Sunday while helping students escape a burning building following the explosion of a gas pipeline.
At least 17 people died as a result of the March 15 explosion, which occurred after a truck hit stacked gas bottles at a processing plant near a pipeline.
"Sr. Henrietta Alokha SSH and other staff that died have paid the supreme price in their bid to lead all her students to safety. May their souls rest in peace," Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos said March 16.
Sr. Henrietta reportedly rescued the students trapped in a building at the school before the roof caved in. They were attending Mass at the time, and Archbishop Martins said the priest who was saying the Mass "helped in rescuing the students and he himself is safe."