A fresh tragedy has struck the country after a deadly fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, claimed the lives of at least 16 students, with dozens of others nursing injuries.
The fire, which broke out in one of the school dormitories in the early hours of Thursday morning, has once again thrown the spotlight on safety standards in Kenyan boarding schools.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Education CS Julius Ogamba and DCI Director Mohamed Amin rushed to the school as rescue operations and investigations intensified following the tragedy.
Police said 74 other students were admitted to various hospitals with injuries, some suffering serious burns and trauma following the inferno.
The exact cause of the fire had not been established by Thursday morning, but investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had already begun combing through the scene as grief engulfed families and the school community.
The tragedy now revives painful memories of previous deadly school fires in the country, including the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire in Nyeri in September 2024 that killed 21 pupils and sparked nationwide outrage over boarding school safety.
Speaking after arriving at the school, Murkomen assured families that the government would fully investigate the incident and establish what caused the blaze.
The latest disaster is likely to trigger renewed scrutiny over dormitory congestion, emergency preparedness and enforcement of school safety regulations, issues that have repeatedly emerged after similar tragedies across the country.
School fires have remained a recurring problem in Kenya over the years, with past investigations linking some incidents to arson, electrical faults, poor infrastructure and weak enforcement of safety measures.
As rescue teams continued accounting for students, anxious parents gathered outside the school and hospitals seeking information about their children amid scenes of confusion, grief and heartbreak.