A fire broke out at approximately 1 a.m. on Thursday at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county, located in central Kenya's Rift Valley region. The blaze tore through a dormitory in the boarding school's accommodation section, prompting firefighters and police officers to work to control the fire and evacuate students.
Authorities, including the education minister, report that 16 students were killed and 79 others were injured in the disaster. Search teams were deployed to account for all students as distraught parents waited anxiously for updates outside the school.
The police's Directorate of Criminal Investigations announced the arrest of eight female students on suspicion of planning and carrying out the arson attack. The education minister stated that the students could be charged next week.
This incident is the latest in a series of deadly school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common. Such fires have previously been caused by electrical faults or arson, including a 2024 fire at a primary boarding school in nearby Nyeri county that killed 21 students. The Utumishi Girls Academy is run by Kenya's police.