Following a fire in an elementary school dormitory in central Kenya, at least 17 students have died and 14 have been injured; an additional 70 children remain unaccounted for, confirmed authorities on Friday.
Speaking to a spokesman for the Kenya National Police Service, the fire started late at night on Thursday at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni, in the nation’s Nyeri county, Resila Onyango. Their remains had been “burnt beyond recognition,” she claimed.
Onyango told CNN, “At this moment, the cause of the fire is unknown, but we will update the public when we know more.”
More than 150 students were in the male dormitory of the mixed private boarding school when the fire started, according to a statement released by the government on Friday.
Kenya’s education ministry said 824 students – 402 boys and 422 girls – were enrolled in the school. It added that 156 of the boys and around 160 girls were boarders while the rest were day scholars.
Onyango told CNN, “At present, the cause of the fire is unknown, but we will update the public when we know more.”
In a statement released on Friday, the government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura stated that more than 150 students were residing in the male dormitory of the mixed private boarding school when the fire started at around midnight.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said that 70 children are still unaccounted for
“There are still seventy children who are missing from our records; this does not imply that they have died or are hurt. They are said to be missing from account. At a press conference on Friday, he added, “We are praying and hoping for the best.”
According to Gachagua, a few parents came at the school in order to pick up their kids without notifying the management after learning about the fire.
In order for us to find out where the kid is, he implored with every parent who has taken their child from here to report. After the school fire, a part of the dormitory where the fire occurred is exposed.
William Ruto, the president of Kenya, conveyed his condolences on Friday. Ruto called the incident “devastating news.”
In his statement, the president said“I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” his post continued, adding his government was “mobilizing all the necessary resources to support the affected families.”
Distraught parents converged on the school Friday morning, waiting anxiously for news as authorities searched for bodies and survivors.
The Kenya Red Cross also posted a statement on Friday, saying it would provide “psychosocial support services to the pupils, teachers and affected families.”
The statement added that 11 children have so far been taken to hospital, with the area of the fire cordoned off by police.
Kenya Red Cross, alongside a “multi-agency response team,” is currently on the ground responding add has set up a tracing desk at the school, the statement continued.
School fires – often attributed to arson and overcrowding – are relatively common in Kenya, where similar tragedies have led to multiple casualties in the past.
In 2017, at least nine students died when a boarding school in the capital Nairobi erupted in flames. The government said at the time that the fire “was not an accident” but an “arson,” and part of a rising trend of deliberate school fires. From 2015 to 2016 around 350 schools had caught fire, according to official figures.
