Nighttime fire kills 16 schoolgirls in Kenya
At least 16 schoolgirls have been killed and dozens injured after a fire tore through a dormitory at a boarding school in Kenya, the authorities have said.
The blaze broke out shortly after midnight on Thursday at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in the town of Gilgil, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen confirmed.
The fire started at around 12:45 AM in a second-floor dormitory housing students at the school, which has an enrollment of more than 800 girls. Seventy-nine students were injured in the incident and taken to hospital. Most have since been discharged, while seven remain hospitalized in stable condition, Murkomen said.
Emergency crews, including county security teams and firefighters, managed to bring the blaze under control by about 3:00 AM.
Eight students have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the fire. In a statement on Friday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said, “preliminary investigations have identified eight students as persons of interest in connection with the planning and execution of the suspected arson attack.”
The identification of the victims is ongoing with the involvement of health officials and investigators from the DCI.
Kenyan President William Ruto expressed condolences to the victims’ families, saying the country is mourning the loss of young lives.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters,” Ruto wrote on X. He added that the government’s priority is assisting survivors and supporting affected families while investigators work to determine the cause of the fire.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of deadly school fires in Kenya that have repeatedly raised concerns over safety standards in boarding schools. In September 2024, at least 21 boys were killed after a dormitory caught fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County. The victims, aged between ten and 14, were asleep when the blaze broke out.
One of the country’s worst school disasters occurred in 2001, when a fire at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County killed 67 students. Investigators later concluded that the blaze had been deliberately started by two students.
