A fire outbreak in a girls’ school dormitory in Kenya on Thursday killed 16 people and injured 73, according to a police source.
The fire broke out at 1:00 a.m. local time at Utumishi Girls’ Academy in Nakuru County, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Nairobi, according to local media.
It was unclear whether all of the casualties were students, but local authorities reported the fire started in a hostel where approximately 220 girls were sleeping.
“First responders, ambulance crews, and our support personnel are currently on the ground,” a spokesperson for the Kenyan Red Cross told AFP, declining to give a toll.
The school is affiliated with the National Police Service and is located in an area with numerous army and training facilities.
Local media said that authorities were holding frantic parents outside school facilities.
There have been numerous devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are prevalent as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.
In 2024, a fire ravaged a dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County, killing 21 boys.
Previously, children were accused of purposefully causing fires. According to one study, 63 arson incidences occurred at schools in 2018.
According to a 2017 investigation by Kenya’s National Crime Research Centre, test stress and extended school terms were to blame, and students from other schools communicated via smuggled phones, resulting in copycat attacks.
Following the disastrous 2024 fire, the government committed to conduct a safety audit of all schools and penalize violators.
