President William Ruto has declared a three-day national mourning following the devastating fire incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni, Nyeri County.
As of today, Saturday, September 7, the Thursday night fire had claimed 18 lives, injured 27 with about 70 young learners still unaccounted for.
In a presidential proclamation on Friday, Ruto indicated that the three days will begin at dawn on Monday, September 9, to sunset on Wednesday, September 11.
During this period, the Kenyan flag and that of the East African Community will be flown at half-mast at State House, all Kenyan diplomatic missions, public buildings, public grounds, all military bases, posts, stations and all Kenyan naval vessels.
Ruto assured the bereaved families that every public medical resource is at their disposal to ensure that all injured children receive the highest level of care.
"As your President, I pledge that the difficult questions that have been asked such as how this tragedy occurred and why the response was not timely will be answered; fully, frankly, and without fear or favour.All relevant persons and bodies will be held to account, and we shall do all that is required to ensure that, as far as possible, we shall never again find ourselves in the grips of such a tragedy," said Ruto.The children who tragically perished were between the ages of 9 and 13, in Grades 4 to 8.