The bodies of the victims of a overnight fire at Utumishi Girls Academy are moved outside the burned dormitory in Gilgil, 77 miles northwest of Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday. At least 16 students were killed in a fire in the school dorm. On Friday, eight girls were arrested on suspicion of arson. Photo by Stringer/EPA
May 29 (UPI) — Eight students were arrested Friday for the alleged arson of a dormitory at a Kenyan girls’ boarding school on Thursday that killed 16 students and injured 79 others, local officials announced.
The Kenya Directorate of Criminal Investigations posted a statement on X saying that the girls were “persons of interest” in the suspected arson attack. Education Minister Julius Ogamba said they could be charged as soon as Tuesday.
The fire broke out at the Utumishi Girls Academy, which is run by Kenya’s police, around 1 a.m. at the dorm in Gilgil, which is 77 miles northwest of Nairobi. The blaze was contained by 3 a.m., Ogamba said.
Preliminary findings showed that there were multiple failures of safety measures at the school, including overcrowding in the dorms and a locked exit door, Ogamba said.
“In particular, there was congestion in the dormitory and one exit door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” he said.
He also said he had dissolved the school’s management. Appropriate disciplinary and legal action would be taken against anyone who failed in their duties, Ogamba said.
Seven children were flown to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi for specialized care, he said.
Parents told the BBC that children had to jump from the windows to flee the fire, which caused some of the injuries.
“I arrived at the school at 7 [a.m.], and 3 hours later I don’t have any information,” Njuki Nthimba, who was looking for his niece, told the BBC.
“Some officers came from the school and asked the parents to group themselves in three groups. Group one is for parents whose children have been arrested in relation to the incident, group two is parents whose children died, and group three is parents who don’t know where their children are.
“I handed them my niece’s name, and I am now waiting to be told information about her.”
Samuel Githua told the BBC he came to the school to find his sister.
“I don’t know where my sister is. We’ve been told some children are in hospital, some in the mortuary. … Our mother died when we were young, so I have taken care of her like a father and mother. She has been my child,” he said.
Kenya has a history of deadly school fires.
Boarding schools in the country have a poor safety record with a series of deadly fires caused by overcrowding and breaches of basic safety measures such as keeping exits clear and windows and exits unlocked.
Some have been arson, blamed on students upset by the living conditions and discipline.
Ogamba said the Education Ministry has for the past 18 months audited schools’ health and safety standards, and almost 350 boarding schools had been shut down.
The audit began in the wake of the deaths of 21 people in a dorm fire in 2024 at the Hillside Endarasha Academy, a boarding school in Nyeri, 100 miles north of Nairobi.
Kenya’s deadliest school fire was in 2001, when a fire set by students killed 67 in Machakos, about 40 miles south of Nairobi.