16 students dead in dormitory fire at Kenya girls school

A massive fire brokeout in a girl's school dormitory in Kenya on Thursday (May 28) in which as many as 16 people were killed. AFP reported that those killed included mostly children, and 73 have been hospitalised. The fire broke out overnight in Utumishi Girls Academy, a boarding school in Nakuru County, the Red Cross told AFP, without giving casualty numbers. The Kenyan Red Cross said theblaze broke out around 1 am at the Utumishi Girls' Academy Senior ‌School in the Gilgil area, but was only reported only more than two hours later. "First responders, ambulance crew and our support personnel are currently on the ground," a spokesperson for the Red Cross told AFP. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. DW reported that authorities have confirmed that the fire has been contained.

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County police official Masoud Mwinyi spoke to ​distraught parents outside the school and said, “It is a distressing and saddening situation.” Mwinyi told ⁠reporters that around 50 officers were searching the areas around the school for students who may have fled when the blaze broke out.

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History of school fires

School fires have remained a recurring and deadly problem in Kenya for decades, with authorities often linking the incidents to arson, poor infrastructure, overcrowded dormitories, electrical faults and student unrest over harsh discipline and living conditions. The country’s deadliest school fire occurred in 2001 at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County, where 67 students were killed after two students allegedly set a dormitory ablaze in protest against school policies. In 2017, a fire at Moi Girls High School in Nairobi killed 10 students, with investigations later concluding that a student had deliberately started the blaze. Kenya also witnessed more than 60 cases of school arson in 2018, highlighting the scale of the crisis in boarding schools. In 2024, another devastating dormitory fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County claimed the lives of 21 children, prompting national mourning and renewed criticism over weak fire safety standards. Experts and rights groups say many Kenyan boarding schools continue to struggle with inadequate emergency exits, poor enforcement of safety measures, extreme academic pressure and limited mental health support for students, creating conditions that have repeatedly contributed to tragic fire disaster