At least 17 children lost their lives after a devastating fire swept through the dormitory of Hillside Endarasha Academy in central Kenya, authorities confirmed on Friday.
The fire broke out around midnight in Nyeri County, engulfing the sleeping quarters of the primary school, which caters to around 800 students between the ages of five and twelve.
National police spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed the tragic toll, revealing that the victims’ bodies were “burnt beyond recognition.” She added that the average age of the victims was about nine years old. In addition to the fatalities, 16 other children were critically injured and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The cause of the fire remains unclear, but authorities have launched a full investigation into the incident. “More bodies are likely to be recovered once the scene is fully processed,” Onyango said.
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The tragedy has sent shockwaves across the country, with President William Ruto expressing his condolences. “Our thoughts are with the families of the children who have lost their lives in the fire tragedy,” he shared in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. He further vowed that a thorough investigation would be conducted and that those responsible would be held accountable.
Images from the scene showed the charred remains of the school’s dormitory, with collapsed roofing and blackened debris. Family members gathered outside the school in anguish, awaiting news of their loved ones. The Kenyan Red Cross was on-site, offering psychosocial support to the affected families, teachers, and students.
This tragic incident adds to a troubling history of school fires in Kenya and East Africa. In 2016, nine students died in a similar fire at a girls’ high school in Nairobi. In 2001, 67 pupils were killed in an arson attack at Kyanguli Mixed Secondary School in Machakos, southern Kenya, a disaster that shocked the nation.
As the investigation unfolds, Kenya is once again mourning the loss of its young citizens to a preventable tragedy and the nation awaits answers on the cause of this latest disaster.
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