Kenya police probe school blaze that killed 18 boys

By AFP
September 08, 2024
Grieving relatives of Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy,wait to receive counselling at an emergency care and counselling centre set up by Kenya Redcross members outside the school in Endarasha, Nyeri county on September 7, 2024. — AFP
Grieving relatives of Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy,wait to receive counselling at an emergency care and counselling centre set up by Kenya Redcross members outside the school in Endarasha, Nyeri county on September 7, 2024. — AFP

ENDARASHA, Kenya: Kenyan police stepped up their investigations Saturday into a prime school dormitory blaze that has now cost the lives of 18 boys, as families faced an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones.

“It is a catastrophe beyond our imagination,” government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said at a press briefing at the Hillside Endarasha Academy where the fire struck around midnight Thursday. The flames engulfed a dormitory at the primary school where more than 150 boys aged between nine and 13 were sleeping. Mwaura said 18 children had died in the blaze at the school in the central county of Nyeri, up from a previous toll of 17 given by President William Ruto on Friday.

“It is truly devastating for the nation to lose such a number of young and promising Kenyans. Our hearts are heavy,” Mwaura said.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had said on Friday that 70 youngsters were still unaccounted for after the fire. Mwaura said about 20 had now been accounted for as of Saturday, but declined to give any further details. The cause of the inferno is not yet known but homicide investigators and forensic experts are at the school, where media access has been blocked.