At least 16 students died in a dormitory fire that broke out at about 2.00 am at Utumishi Girls High School in Nakuru County, about 120km north-west of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, authorities confirmed on Thursday.
Rift Valley Regional Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi confirmed the incident, saying the cause of the fire had not yet been established.
About 79 others were injured and taken to hospital – 71 were later discharged and seven admitted for further treatment, Education Minister Julius Ogamba said while visiting the scene of the blaze.
Anxious parents and neighbors arrived at the school as early as 4am, but were denied access to the institution.
The minister said the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy started in the early hours of Thursday as the students were asleep.
Parents told local media that a number of students at the school had suffered head and body injuries from jumping out of the dormitory, which has two floors.
Ogamba added that the school would begin releasing students to their parents and guardians throughout the day as authorities continue investigations.
Students at the school are between 15 and 18, and about 220 girls were sleeping in the dormitory when the fire started on the building’s second floor. Doors on that floor were initially locked and some girls died while jumping out of the windows, a first responder said.
In 2024, 21 boys were killed at a boarding school in central Kenya when a fire tore through their dormitory, while in 2017 nine girls died in a blaze at a school in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi.
MG/abj/APA