Officials said that a fire ravaged an elementary school dormitory located in central Kenya. The fire killed 17 boys, and severely burned 14 more, they reported. According to AFP, the Hillside Endarasha primary school has approximately 800 students between five and twelve years old.
Resila Onyango, a police spokesperson quoted by Reuters, said: “We lost 17 students in the fire accident while 14 were injured.” According to the news agency, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said that the victims were boys between grades 4 and 8, which would mean they ranged in age from 9 to 13 years old.
Onyango, the Kenyan county commissioner for Nyeri, said that he was investigating the cause of the fire and would take the necessary actions.
AFP reported her saying that the “bodies recovered from the scene were burned beyond recognition.”
The fire broke out at midnight, engulfing the dormitory as students slept.
The Kenyan Red Cross assisted a multi-agency team on the scene. The agency stated in a post to X that it was “providing psychological support services to affected families, teachers, and pupils.”
President William Ruto described the news as “devastating”, and promised to take action against those responsible.
“I direct the relevant authorities to investigate this horrifying incident thoroughly. Those responsible will face justice,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X.
Rigathi Gachagua was his deputy and urged administrators of boarding schools to follow the safety guidelines set by the Education Ministry.
Kenyan board schools are prone to fires, as many students choose to stay there because their parents think it allows them more time for studying without having long commutes.
Students have started fires during protests against the workload or living standards. Ten high school students were killed in a fire at a Nairobi school in 2017.
