Blaze at Kenyan all-girls school residence claims lives of 16 students

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A fire in a girls’ school dormitory in Kenya on Thursday has left 16 dead and 73 hospitalised, a police source told AFP.

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The fire broke out at around 1:00 am local time in Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru County, around 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the capital Nairobi, local media said.

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It was not immediately clear if all the casualties were children, but a statement from local authorities said the fire broke out in a dorm where around 220 girls were sleeping.

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“First responders, ambulance crew and our support personnel are currently on the ground,” a spokesperson for the Kenyan Red Cross told AFP, declining to give a toll.

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The school is linked to the National Police Service, in an area that hosts several army and training facilities.

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Frantic parents were being held outside the school buildings by authorities, according to local media.

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There have been many devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.

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A fire in 2024 killed 21 boys after flames engulfed a dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county.

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Children have been accused of deliberately starting fires in the past. One report found there were 63 arson cases at schools in 2018 alone.

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A 2017 report by Kenya’s National Crime Research Centre blamed exam stress and long school terms, and said students in different schools were communicating via smuggled phones, leading to copycat acts.

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After the deadly 2024 fire, the government promised a safety audit of all schools and to prosecute violators.

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AFP

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