8 students arrested after Kenya school dorm fire kills 16, injures dozens

Kenyan authorities arrested eight female students on Friday (May 29) on suspicion of deliberately setting fire to a dormitory at Utumishi Girls School in central Kenya, a blaze that killed 16 children and injured 79 others. The motive remains under investigation. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the girls are suspected of planning and carrying out the arson attack, which occurred Thursday morning (May 28). Forensic teams have been reviewing CCTV footage while investigators have conducted extensive interviews with students, staff, and other witnesses.

The police questioned 30 students and asked parents to return home and come back the following morning. However, many parents were still left without answers. "We have not even been told about the eight that police have arrested," one parent told the news agency Associated Press, speaking anonymously out of fear her daughter could face retaliation. "We are just here and no one is giving us any information."

The bodies of the 16 victims were transferred to a government hospital morgue and are undergoing DNA testing for identification. Investigators say they are continuing to gather evidence to "reconstruct the sequence of events, establish the full circumstances of the incident, and determine the motive," according to DCI spokesperson John Marete. School fires have been an ongoing concern across East Africa, where overcrowded classrooms and dormitories, combined with a lack of firefighting equipment, create dangerous conditions. Such fires are sometimes linked to electrical faults, while others have been attributed to students deliberately burning school buildings in response to disciplinary grievances.

Authorities have not yet disclosed what may have motivated the suspected attack, and the investigation is ongoing. Officials are urging patience as forensic and detective work continues at the site.