•Fire outbreak
A fire killed 17 boys when it tore through the dormitory in which they were sleeping at a boarding school in central Kenya in the early hours of today, police said.
“We saw several children in there that had been burnt,” Phillip Gathogo, a local resident, told reporters.
“I was just lucky to save one of them, but I heard that he later died. It was a very troubling and sad tragedy.”
The blaze occurred at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri, a primary boarding school for young students about 150 km (93 miles) from the capital Nairobi, reports Reuter.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the boys were in grades 4 to 8, putting their ages at about 9 to 13-years-old. He said in a statement the dormitory housed 156 students.
“We have lost 17 pupils in the fire incident while 14 are injured,” police spokesperson Resila Onyango said.
“Our team is at the scene at the moment.”
Vice President Rigathi Gachagua said 70 pupils remained unaccounted for, although he added that some may have been taken home by their parents in the night.
Citizen Television said the fire had burnt the victims beyond recognition.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
“Many children managed to jump out and get to safety, but we do not know how many were successful,” Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said while visiting the school.
“The government assures full accountability for all whose action or inaction contributed to this tremendous loss,” Kindiki later wrote on X.
He appealed for local residents who took in survivors to bring them back to the school so that they might receive medical help and counselling.
President William Ruto said he had told authorities to investigate what he called the “horrific incident” and said those responsible would be held to account.
Authorities have cordoned off the school and crime scene investigators have been sent there, the Interior Ministry said.
