A fire tore through a dormitory at a ‌girls' secondary school in a town in Kenya's Rift Valley overnight, killing at least 16 students, the government said on Thursday.

The fire broke out just after midnight at the Utumishi Girls' Academy Senior School in Gilgil, west-central Kenya, and burned for more than two hours, Education Minister Julius Migos told reporters.

He said 79 other students were injured, although 71 of them had already been discharged from the hospital. Students at the school are aged between 15 and 18 years.

"Investigations are ⁠ongoing, but the ... cause of the fire is not yet identified," Migos said.

FIRST RESPONDER SAYS STUDENT HAD SET FIRE TO MATTRESS

Speaking to reporters at the school, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen urged people not to speculate on the cause of the fire.

However, multiple survivors told first responders that a student had lit a mattress with a match, said one first responder, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

They did not know what the student's motive might have been.

Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with more than 100 recorded in 2024, according to the government. Many fires are set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found.

STUDENTS WERE TRAPPED UPSTAIRS

Doors on the second floor where the fire started were ‌initially ⁠locked, and some students died while jumping out of the windows, the first responder said. The fire shattered the window panes and left the school walls stained with smoke.

Outside the school on Thursday, hundreds of family members gathered to seek news of their loved ones. Injured students could be seen, some limping with bandaged limbs, others carried by police officers.

Local resident Wambui Nderitu said she had rushed to the school at around 4 a.m. to look for her aunt's daughter.

"Fortunately, I found her child, but she was slightly injured. She told me she was on a lower dormitory, which is how she managed to get out," Nderitu told local broadcaster Asulab TV. "Many of those who were upstairs jumped ⁠from the balcony.”

Another local resident Leah Wanjiru told Asulab TV: "I heard children screaming ... so I went outside to check and saw that the school was on fire ... We started fetching water, trying to help put out the fire and rescue people."

A fire in ⁠2024 at a primary boarding school in nearby Nyeri County killed 21 students. Its cause was never conclusively established.

In the worst school fire of recent times, 67 schoolboys were killed in 2001 at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi, an incident the authorities attributed to arson.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.

Tags:

FIRST RESPONDER SAYS STUDENT HAD SET FIRE TO ​MATTRESS

STUDENTS WERE TRAPPED UPSTAIRS

FIRST RESPONDER SAYS STUDENT HAD SET FIRE TO MATTRESS

Fire at Kenyan girls school kills 16 students, injures 79

Suggested for you

More Stories

Rain is Coming: GMet Warns Northern and Transition Areas

Bagbin praises UBIDS for being strong, promises government support is coming

'I Am Not an Accounting Student' — Nigeria's Youngest Chartered Accountant, 16-Year-Old Osasere Okundaye Shares His Story

Top Officials Gather for Ayatollah Funeral, But Eldest Son Is Absent

No degree is useless if the economy works – Kwaku Asare replies Adutwum

Anambra Police Explain Why They Are Seizing Cars With Tinted Windows

Discussion