A fire has ripped through a dormitory at a girls’ school in Kenya’s Rift valley, killing at least 16 students.
The fire broke out just after midnight at Utumishi girls academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county, about 76 miles north-west of Nairobi, according to police.
The education minister, Julius Migos Ogamba, told reporters that 79 other students were injured, although 71 of them had already been discharged from hospital. Ogamba said: “Investigations are ongoing, but the … cause of the fire is not yet identified.”
Students at the school are between 15 and 18 years old, 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 students died while jumping out of the windows, a first responder said.
Multiple survivors told first responders that a student had lit a mattress with a match, the first responder told Reuters. They did not know what the student’s motive might have been.
The tragedy is the latest fatal fire at a school in Kenya in recent years. 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.
In 2016, there were about 120 incidents of students setting fire to their sleeping quarters, many in protest at strict discipline and bad conditions. A 2022 report by the country’s auditor general found that most state secondary schools were not prepared to deal with fires.
The Kenyan Red Cross said on X that the blaze in Gilgil was reported at about 3.30am on Thursday. “Several students have been evacuated and are receiving treatment in various hospitals,” it said. “A multi-agency response involving the county fire brigade, county disaster response teams, @PoliceKE and Kenya Red Cross remains ongoing.”
Dozens of parents gathered at the school on Thursday morning, frantically searching for news of their children. Some injured students were carried out of the school by police officers, while others limped.
Wambui Nderitu told the BBC her niece had survived the fire but broken her leg. She added: “Some of those at the top floor had to jump out, that’s why they are injured.”
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, said his “heart and prayers” were with the girls’ families. “No words can truly ease the pain of losing young lives filled with promise, hope and dreams for the future,” he said in a social media post. “As a nation, we mourn with the parents, guardians, teachers and fellow students who are enduring this unimaginable tragedy.
“Our immediate attention is focused on the rescue of those affected, the treatment of the injured, and support for their families, while investigations continue into the cause of the fire.”
