A dormitory fire at a girls’ school in Kenya’s Rift Valley has killed at least 15 students, police said on Thursday, in the latest fatal school blaze to hit the country.
The fire broke out overnight at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil, Nakuru County, according to a report from Gilgil Police Station seen by Reuters.
An unknown number of students were injured, while the cause of the fire has not yet been established, police said.
Footage broadcast by Citizen Television showed shattered window panes and smoke-blackened walls at the school.
Senior police commander Masoud Mwinyi told reporters at the scene that 50 officers had been deployed to search areas around the school for students who may have fled in panic when the fire erupted.
“Of that shock and fear and anxiety, many people went out, and it was at night,” Mwinyi said.
Kenya has faced repeated school fires over the years. Government data showed more than 60 arson cases in public secondary schools in 2018 alone, while researchers have linked many incidents to student protests over harsh discipline and poor conditions.
In 2024, a fire killed 21 students at a primary boarding school in nearby Nyeri County. The cause of that blaze has not been conclusively established.
