A fire in a girls’ school dormitory in Kenya has killed 16 people and left 73 others hospitalised, a police source told AFP on Thursday.
The blaze broke out around 1:00 am local time at Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru County, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi, according to local media.
Authorities said it was not immediately clear whether all the victims were children, but confirmed the fire started in a dormitory where about 220 girls were sleeping.
“First responders, ambulance crew and our support personnel are currently on the ground,” a spokesperson for the Kenyan Red Cross told AFP, declining to confirm the number of casualties.
The school is linked to the National Police Service and is located in an area that hosts several military and training facilities.
Frantic parents were being held outside the school compound by authorities, local media reported.
Kenya has experienced a series of deadly school fires, with boarding schools common as a legacy of colonial-era education systems introduced by missionaries and the British.
In 2024, a fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County killed 21 boys after a dormitory was engulfed in flames.
Authorities have previously attributed some school fires to arson. A report found 63 cases of school arson in 2018 alone.
A 2017 study by Kenya’s National Crime Research Centre cited exam stress, long school terms, and communication between students via smuggled phones as contributing factors to copycat incidents.
Following the 2024 tragedy, the government pledged to conduct a nationwide safety audit of schools and prosecute those responsible for violations.
AFP
