A deadly fire swept through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru county, in Kenya’s Rift Valley, killing at least 16 students and injuring dozens more.
Police said the blaze broke out shortly after midnight at the boarding school, about 76 miles northwest of Nairobi. The education minister, Julius Migos Ogamba, confirmed that 79 students were injured and that 71 of those have since been discharged from hospital. He said investigations are ongoing and the exact cause has not yet been established.
The dormitory housed roughly 220 girls between the ages of 15 and 18. The fire began on the building’s second floor, where several doors were reportedly locked, and some students suffered fatal injuries after jumping from windows while trying to escape.
Multiple survivors told first responders that a student had set a mattress alight with a match, though the motive remains unclear and authorities are investigating those reports.
The tragedy follows other fatal school fires in Kenya in recent years, including a 2024 dormitory blaze that killed 21 boys at a central Kenya boarding school and a 2017 fire that claimed nine girls in Kibera. In 2016, roughly 120 incidents were recorded in which students set fire to their dormitories, often citing harsh discipline and poor living conditions. A 2022 auditor general’s report found many state secondary schools were not well prepared to deal with fires.
The Kenyan Red Cross said the fire was reported at about 3:30am and that a multi-agency response involving the county fire brigade, disaster response teams, police and the Red Cross remained active as students were evacuated and treated in various hospitals.
Dozens of parents gathered at the school seeking information. First responders and police officers carried injured students from the scene, while others left the campus with visible injuries. A relative of one survivor said the girl had broken a leg after jumping from an upper floor.
President William Ruto expressed condolences to the families and said the government’s immediate focus was on rescuing the affected, treating the injured and supporting families while inquiries into the cause of the fire continue.
Authorities continue to investigate the incident and provide support to survivors and the victims’ families.
