Kenya: Deadly fire breaks out at girls' boarding school

A fire at Utumishi Girls' Academy Senior School in the Gilgil area of central Kenya killed at least 16 students and injured 73 others. The Kenyan Red Cross said the blaze started around 1:00 a.m. but was reported more than two hours later. First responders, ambulance crews, and support personnel were on the ground, and authorities confirmed the fire was contained. County police officials said about 50 officers searched areas around the school for students who may have fled during the blaze. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. School fires in Kenya have been linked to electrical faults and arson, including incidents involving student protests and harsh discipline.

"At least 16 students were killed and 73 injured at a girls' boarding school in central Kenya early Thursday, police officials said. The Kenyan Red Cross said the blaze broke out around 1:00 in the morning at the Utumishi Girls' Academy Senior School in the Gilgil area, but was only reported only more than two hours later. "First responders, ambulance crew and our support personnel are currently on the ground," a spokesperson for the Red Cross told French news agency AFP. The cause of the fire was not immediately known."

"Authorities have confirmed that the fire has been contained. "It is a distressing and saddening situation," county police official Masoud Mwinyi said addressing distraught parents outside the school, according to media reports. Mwinyi told reporters that around 50 officers were searching the areas around the school for students who may have fled when the blaze broke out. Frantic parents gather outside school."

"School fires are relatively common in Kenya where electrical faults and arson have contributed to past tragedies. Experts say many of the fires were started by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions. In 2001, 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos County. In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in the capital Nairobi for which one student was charged with murder. In 2018, more than 60 cases of arson in public secondary schools were recorded. In 2024, 21 students burned to death in a school fire in central Kenya."

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