Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson following a fire at a girls’ boarding school that killed 16, according to the country’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations. The blaze, which happened in Kenya's Rift Valley, also injured dozens of students.
The fire tore through a girls’ boarding school dormitory shortly after midnight on Thursday (28 May) at Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in the town of Gilgil in west-central Kenya. Education Minister Julius Migos said the fire burned for more than two hours before being brought under control.
79 students were injured in the incident, although officials said 71 had already been discharged from hospital by Thursday morning. Students at the boarding school are aged between 15 and 18.
Authorities said investigations into the cause of the fire were ongoing.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen initially urged the public not to speculate while inquiries continued. However, local first responders had said several survivors told emergency workers that a student may have deliberately set a mattress alight using a match. The motive remains unclear.
Witnesses said the fire began on the second floor of the dormitory, where some exit doors were reportedly locked. Several students are believed to have died after jumping from windows while trying to escape the flames.
Scenes at the school on Thursday showed smoke-blackened walls and shattered windows as hundreds of distressed relatives gathered outside seeking information about missing family members.
School fires remain a recurring problem in Kenya, where authorities recorded more than 100 incidents in 2024 alone. Researchers have linked many of the blazes to student unrest over strict discipline, overcrowding and poor living conditions in boarding schools.
The tragedy follows another deadly school fire in nearby Nyeri County in 2024, in which 21 students were killed at a primary boarding school. The cause of that blaze was never conclusively determined.
Kenya’s deadliest school fire in recent decades occurred in 2001 at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi, where 67 boys were killed in a dormitory blaze later attributed to arson by authorities.
A group of Azerbaijani civil society organisations has called for increased scrutiny of Swiss building materials giant Holcim, citing court rulings an...
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is "outpacing containment efforts" amid conflict, weak disease surveillance and limited...
Kazakhstan has reiterated that no existing route can replace the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which carries more than 80% of the country's crude...
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing...
Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson following a fire at a girls’ boarding school that killed 16, according to the ...
A group of Azerbaijani civil society organisations has called for increased scrutiny of Swiss building materials giant Holcim, citing court rulings and ongoing investigations linked to its subsidiary Lafarge's activities during the Syrian conflict.
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is "outpacing containment efforts" amid conflict, weak disease surveillance and limited access to healthcare, according to London-based pharmacist and health commentator Thorrun Govind.
Kazakhstan has reiterated that no existing route can replace the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which carries more than 80% of the country's crude oil exports through Russia to the Black Sea.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating that the Islamic Republic’s actions in the strategic waterway are “lawful”.
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly reached a preliminary 60-day ceasefire and nuclear talks deal, pending Donald Trump’s approval, Axios reports. Meanwhile, the GCC condemned Iran’s missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Kuwait, which Tehran said was retaliation for a U.S. strike near Bandar Abbas.
Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz has taken steps towards potentially declaring a state of emergency as anti-government protests intensify in the early months of his administration.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says ongoing conflict, funding pressures and international travel restrictions are complicating efforts to contain a fast-growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focused on energy, transport and economic cooperation with one of Moscow’s closest regional partners.
Muslims around the world have marked Eid al-Adha with prayers, celebrations and acts of charity, though for many Palestinians the holiday unfolded amid conflict, restrictions and loss.
The British government has unveiled 300,000 new work experience and training placements for young people after a major review warned that rising youth unemployment could leave more young people disconnected from work, education and training.
Billions of dollars' worth of gold continue to be extracted illegally from Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, according to a Greenpeace study, despite President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s pledges to curb wildcat mining.
Soaring temperatures across Europe have broken records in Portugal and sparked heat alerts in Italy and France, affecting events including the French Open tennis tournament.
NATO member Romania reported on Friday that a Russian drone injured two people in the southeastern city of Galati during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine. The incident marks the first time in the war that a drone has struck a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries.
Jeff Bezos’ space venture suffered a dramatic launchpad explosion during a hot-fire test, delaying plans to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in lunar and satellite missions.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment