2024-09-08 04:29:46
Nairobi: 17 students died and 13 others suffered serious burn injuries in a fire at a school hostel in Kenya. Giving this information on Friday, the police have expressed the fear that the death toll may rise. Police spokesperson Rasila Onyango said that the fire broke out at ‘Hillside Andarasha Primary’ in Nyeri County on Thursday night and efforts are being made to ascertain the cause of the fire. Children up to 14 years of age live in this school. Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the Education Ministry said that more than 150 students lived in the hostel where the fire broke out.
Since the buildings are made mainly of wooden planks, the fire spread very fast. A total of 824 students study at this school located 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital Nairobi in the central hilly region of the country. Wooden structures are common in Nairobi. The country’s President William Ruto described the news as “horrific”. He wrote on the social media platform ‘X’, “I instruct the relevant authorities to investigate this terrible incident thoroughly. Those responsible will be held accountable.”
Kenya’s Vice President Rigathi Gachagua urged school administrators to ensure that safety guidelines recommended by the Ministry of Education for residential schools are followed. Fires are common in Kenyan residential schools, according to a recent Ministry of Education report. These fires are often caused by drug use and overcrowding. A large number of students stay in these schools because parents believe that living in them saves their children time spent commuting and gives them more time to study.
Some incidents of arson have been carried out by students during protests over heavy workloads or poor living conditions. In 2017, 10 students were killed when students set a fire at a school in the capital, Nairobi. The deadliest school fire incident was in 2001, when a fire at a dormitory in Machakos County killed 67 students.