At least 16 students have died after a devastating fire broke out at a girls’ boarding school in Gilgil, about 120 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, Kenyan authorities have confirmed.
The tragedy happened in the early hours of Thursday while students at Utumishi Girls Academy were asleep in their dormitories.
Several other students were injured during the incident and rushed to hospital for treatment. Education Minister Julius Ogamba, who visited the school after the fire, said 71 students had already been discharged while seven remained admitted for further medical care.
Parents and relatives gathered outside the school compound throughout the day, desperately waiting for information about their children.
Police said rescue and search operations were still ongoing as investigators worked to establish what caused the deadly fire. The Kenya Red Cross also deployed emergency response teams to support affected students and families.
According to the Education Minister, the fire started on the first floor of one of the dormitories and quickly spread through the building, leaving it completely destroyed.
“The response teams managed to put out the fire by about 03:00, but by then the damage had already been done,” Ogamba said.
He added that students would gradually be released to their parents and guardians as investigations continue.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, who was also at the scene, expressed condolences to the grieving families and urged the public to remain calm.
“It’s a very anxious moment and even as we account for the 16 so far identified as having passed on, I want to ask the people of Kenya that together we stand with the families in prayer and support,” he said.
Murkomen also asked Kenyans to avoid speculation as authorities continue examining the circumstances surrounding the fire.
Police commander Masoud Mwinyi described the incident as heartbreaking and confirmed that the fire broke out around 1:00am local time inside a dormitory housing about 220 students.
At the time of the tragedy, more than 800 students were reportedly at the school.
Mwinyi said some students fled into nearby areas in panic during the chaos and police officers were still searching for them hours later.
“As we speak, our officers are combing the area because some students fled in shock and fear during the night,” he said.
The school has since been sealed off as investigations continue, with only parents and guardians being allowed inside.
Many parents who rushed to the school described scenes of confusion, fear and heartbreak as they searched for their children.
Leah Serem, whose daughter is a finalist at the school, said she travelled from Nakuru immediately after hearing about the fire.
“We were anxious because we didn’t know whether our children were alive,” she said.
Serem later reunited with her daughter and thanked God after finding her safe.
She explained that her daughter told her students were waking each other up and trying to escape as the fire spread through the dormitory.
“We are praying for parents who have not yet met their children. We ask Kenyans to pray for us and remain calm as investigations continue,” she said.
Another emotional parent said she had spent hours moving from one hospital to another searching for her 17-year-old daughter.
“We’ve been here since 06:00. They’re not telling us where our daughter is,” the mother said through tears.
Relatives who arrived at the school said some students suffered injuries after jumping from the upper floor while trying to escape the flames.
Wambui Nderitu, whose cousin studies at the school, said her relative survived but suffered a broken leg.
“Some of those on the top floor had to jump out, that’s why they are injured,” she explained.
School fires have become a recurring tragedy in Kenya over the years, with overcrowded dormitories, poor safety measures and suspected arson often blamed for the high death tolls.
One of the country’s deadliest school fires happened in 2001 in Machakos County when 67 students died after a dormitory was deliberately set on fire.
In 2024, another dormitory fire in central Kenya claimed at least 21 lives.
A recent assessment by Kenya’s Ministry of Education found that many schools were still failing to meet basic safety standards. Authorities discovered that some dormitories had locked grills on windows, single exits and inward-opening doors, making evacuation difficult during emergencies.
The ministry also identified severe overcrowding in many schools and later announced the closure of 348 institutions that failed to meet safety requirements.
Government records previously presented to Parliament also revealed that Kenya recorded more than 120 cases of school arson between January and November 2020.
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