GILGIL, Kenya, May 28 (Reuters) – A fire destroyed a dormitory at a girls’ school in a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley overnight, killing 16 students, the government said on Thursday.
The fire, the cause of which has not yet been established, broke out just after midnight at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil, in west-central Kenya, and burned for more than two hours, Education Minister Julius Migos told reporters.
He said 79 other students were injured, although 71 of them have already been discharged from hospital.
Images broadcast on Kenyan television showed broken window panes and smoke-stained walls as family members gathered at the school gates seeking news of loved ones.
Fires are common in Kenyan schools, with more than 100 reported in 2024, according to the government. Many fires are set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, according to researchers.
(Additional reporting by George Obulutsa and Vincent Mumo Nzilani)
