Horrific accident in Kenya: 16 girl students killed, 79 injured in fire in girls’ school

Gilgil. 16 girls died in a fire that broke out in the hostel of a girls’ school in Kenya overnight. A government official gave this information. Education Minister Julius Ogamba said 79 other female students were injured. The fire broke out in the hostels of Utumishi Girls School, a residential school located in Gilgil area.

More than 800 girl students study in this school. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Ogamba said authorities would investigate whether the school’s fire safety regulations were followed. The victims have not yet been identified. Kenya Red Cross said that many of the girls have been evacuated to safe places and are being treated in various hospitals.

Fires are common in residential schools in Kenya. Some of these incidents occur due to arson, while others occur due to electrical faults. The deadliest school arson incident in Kenya occurred in 2001, when 67 pupils died in a fire at a dormitory in Machakos County. In 2024, 21 students were burnt to death in a fire at a school in central Kenya. In 2017, 10 students died in a fire at a school in Nairobi.