At least 17 children have died and 70 are missing after a fire ripped through a primary school dormitory in central Kenya, authorities reported on Friday.
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The fire broke out at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County around midnight, spreading through rooms where more than 150 children were sleeping. police spokeswoman Resila Onyango said.
“There are 17 dead in this incident and other people had to be taken to hospital with serious injuries. The bodies found at the scene are charred beyond recognition,” he said.
Destruction caused by the fire in the dormitory of the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kenya.
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Kenyan Vice President Rigathi Gachagua told reporters that “70 children have not yet been located.” “That does not mean they are dead or injured,” he said, adding that 27 children are hospitalized.
The primary school, which has about 800 pupils aged between five and 12, is located about 170 km north of Nairobi, the capital of the African country. Police said the average age of the deceased was nine years old.
About 100 parents gathered at the school gates waiting for news of their children. Several relatives broke down in tears and screams after being taken by police to view the bodies of the schoolchildren in the burned-out dormitory.
“Please find my son. He can’t be dead. I want my son back!” a woman screamed as she walked away from the scene.
“We are in a panic,” said Timothy Kinuthia, desperate to find his 13-year-old son. “We have been here since 5am and we have not been informed of anything,” he lamented.
Investigators gather at Hillside Endarasha Academy to find the source of the fire.
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Home Affairs Minister Kithure Kindiki said some children had taken refuge in neighbouring houses. “There are some children who are alive and well, in the hands of those who gave them shelter last night,” he said, adding that authorities were still gathering information.
Elisabeth Nyambura, 35, said she found her 13-year-old son but was still looking for one of his classmates. “All he told me was that he saw smoke and that they escaped through the window. I’m glad he’s alive,” she said.
Hypotheses about the start of the fire
Authorities have opened an investigation, but the cause of the accident is currently unknown.
Kenya’s national gender and equality commission said, however, that initial reports indicated that The residence was “overcrowded, which violates safety regulations.”
Kenyan President William Ruto expressed his condolences and declared three days of mourning in the country. “Our thoughts are with the families of the children who lost their lives in the fire tragedy,” he wrote on social media X. “This is devastating news,” he added.
Ruto said he had instructed that “this horrific incident” be investigated thoroughly and promised that those responsible “will be held accountable”.
The Kenyan Red Cross said it was on the ground to assist an inter-agency response team.
Students from Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County are rushed to hospital following the fire.
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The organization said in X that it was “providing psychosocial support services to affected students, teachers and families.”
Kenya and other East African countries have suffered numerous school fires in recent years. In 2016, for example, nine students died in a tragedy at a girls’ high school in the Kibera district of Nairobi.
The tragedy also evoked memories of the 2001 disaster at the Kyanguli Secondary School boarding school in Machakos County, bordering Nairobi. In that incident, which was intentionally caused by two students, 67 students aged between 15 and 19 died.
Another fire broke out in 1998 at a boarding school at Bombolulu Girls’ Secondary School in Kwale County (south), killing 26 girls.
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