NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 — At least 16 schoolgirls were killed and 79 others injured after a devastating overnight fire swept through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru, central Kenya, authorities said Thursday, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
Education officials said investigations into the blaze were still ongoing as authorities worked to verify the identities of the victims.
“Out of 808 girls, 79 were injured. Seventy-one have been treated and discharged, while seven remain admitted (at hospitals).
“We have 16 fatalities whose identities will be identified,” said Education Minister Julius Ogamba.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen urged the public to avoid speculation over the cause of the fire until investigators complete their findings, saying school safety procedures would form part of the inquiry.
“Let’s not be speculative at this stage. We have a safety school manual that all schools adhere to. Let’s wait and see if the manual was adhered to after the investigation,” Murkomen said.
Nakuru is located about 160 kilometres (99 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi and is one of Kenya’s largest urban centres in the Rift Valley region.
Authorities had not immediately established the cause of the fire, which broke out late Wednesday and rapidly engulfed part of the dormitory while students were asleep.
Kenyan investigators are meanwhile probing possible arson and reports of locked emergency exits.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said detectives had launched inquiries into the blaze, including whether the fire may have been deliberately started and whether safety procedures were ignored during the emergency.
Government pathologist Dr. Titus Ngulungu said the victims were burned beyond recognition, making DNA analysis necessary before families can formally identify the bodies. Investigators have interviewed 20 students, school workers, guards and administrators as part of efforts to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the blaze and determine whether negligence or criminal actions contributed to the disaster.
Kenya has witnessed several major school fire disasters over the past two decades.
In 2024, at least 21 boys were killed in a dormitory fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County. In 2017, 10 students died after a blaze at Moi Girls High School in Nairobi, while the country’s deadliest school fire occurred in 2001 at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County, where 67 students were killed in a dormitory arson attack.
