There are dozens of injured people and parents are waiting for news
At least 16 people, most of them students, died and 73 were injured in the fire that broke out in the early hours of Thursday in a dormitory at a female boarding school in Kenya, a police source told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The fire was reported at 3:30 am (1:30 am in Lisbon), at the Utumishi Girls’ School in Gilgil, about 100 kilometers north of Nairobi, said the Red Cross, which sent teams to the scene, but did not provide information on the number of victims.
So far there have been no official balance sheets or information released about the ages of the victims.
The Kenyan Ministry of Education announced that a research team has been sent to the scene and that psychological support will be provided to families.
According to a correspondent at the scene, many desperate parents went to the school and are gathered in the courtyard, waiting for news about their children.
Kenyan Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen and Deputy Commissioner of Police Eliud Lagat are also at the scene, according to Kenyan police.
The head of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Mohammed Amin, is overseeing the preliminary investigation into the cause of the fire in Gilgil.
School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, some caused by arson and others by electrical failures.
The deadliest school fire in recent Kenyan history occurred in 2001, when 67 students died in a dormitory in Machakos County.
