A devastating fire engulfed a girls’ school dormitory in Kenya early Thursday morning, claiming the lives of 16 individuals and injuring 73 others, as reported by a police source to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
The blaze erupted around 1:00 a.m. local time at Utumishi Girls Academy, situated in Nakuru County, approximately 120 kilometers north of Nairobi, according to local media outlets.
While it remains unclear whether all the victims were students, a statement from local authorities confirmed that the fire started in a dormitory where around 220 girls were asleep at the time.
“First responders, ambulance crew, and support personnel are actively on the scene,” a spokesperson for the Kenyan Red Cross informed AFP, choosing not to disclose the number of casualties.
The school is affiliated with the National Police Service and is located in an area that includes several military and training institutions.
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Frantic parents were being held outside the school buildings by authorities, according to local media.
There have been many devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.
A fire in 2024 killed 21 boys after flames engulfed a dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county.
Children have been accused of deliberately starting fires in the past. One report found there were 63 arson cases at schools in 2018 alone.
A 2017 report by Kenya’s National Crime Research Centre blamed exam stress and long school terms, and said students in different schools were communicating via smuggled phones, leading to copycat acts.
After the deadly 2024 fire, the government promised a safety audit of all schools and to prosecute violators.
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