They were asleep when the fire started. Sixteen of them never woke up.
A fire tore through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Kenya, in the early hours of Thursday morning, killing 16 students and leaving a community shattered. The school sits about 120 kilometres northwest of Nairobi. The blaze ripped through the upper floor of a dormitory building that housed 135 bunk beds, giving sleeping students little time to escape.
Police have since arrested eight students in connection with the fire. After interviewing students and staff and reviewing CCTV footage, investigators identified the eight as “persons of interest in connection with the planning and execution” of the blaze, according to a National Police Service statement. The eight were among 30 students initially traced and recalled to the school for questioning. Investigations into the exact cause of the fire are still ongoing.
Outside the school gates, the grief was raw and visible. Parents stood in clusters waiting for news, many breaking down as hours passed without answers. Authorities asked families to sort themselves into three groups: parents of arrested students, parents of children who died, and parents who still did not know where their children were.
“I arrived at the school at 07:00 and three hours later I don’t have any information,” said Njuki Nthimba, who came searching for his niece.
Samuel Githua came looking for his sister. “Our mother died when we were young,” he said quietly. “I have taken care of her like a father and mother. She has been my child.”
Kenya has seen this before. Just two years ago, at least 21 people died in a dormitory fire in central Kenya. Investigators have repeatedly pointed to overcrowded dormitories, blocked exits, and locked windows as the reasons why fires in Kenyan boarding schools kill so many. Suspected arson by students unhappy with school conditions has also featured in multiple previous cases.
Sixteen girls went to sleep on Wednesday night. Their families are still waiting for answers.