Fire rips through dormitory at girl’s school in Kenya, killing at least 16 students

A occurrence ripped done a dormitory successful a girls' boarding schoolhouse successful cardinal Kenya connected Thursday (May 28, 2026), sidesplitting astatine slightest 16 students, a authorities authoritative said, successful the latest specified incidental to afflict the East African nation.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said connected Thursday (May 28, 2026) that 79 others were injured astatine the Utumishi Girls School, which has much than 800 students successful the Gilgil country of cardinal Kenya. The origin has not yet been established. Ogamba said authorities would analyse whether the school’s occurrence information manual had been adhered to.

Police said they were starring the rescue and exigency effect efforts astatine the school, which is located astir 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital, Nairobi. The government-owned secondary schoolhouse is managed and sponsored by the Kenya Police Service. Many of the students are daughters of constabulary officers.

The victims person not yet been identified. One idiosyncratic astatine the scene, Wambui Nderitu, arrived to cheque connected her cousin, who is simply a pupil astatine the school. She said she heard that the matron opened 1 of 2 dormitory doors “without alerting the children to exit.” “The 2nd doorway remained closed, and adjacent though my relative escaped with a limb injury, we’ve been told galore children are injured and immoderate died,” Ms. Nderitu said.

The Kenya Red Cross said respective students were evacuated and are receiving attraction successful assorted hospitals. The radical said it deployed "tracing and psychosocial enactment teams to enactment affected students and families”.

Kenya’s deadliest schoolhouse occurrence successful caller past occurred successful 2001 erstwhile 67 students died successful a dormitory occurrence successful Machakos County. In 2024, 21 students burned to decease successful a schoolhouse occurrence successful cardinal Kenya. President William Ruto declared 3 days of mourning. In 2017, 10 students died successful a schoolhouse occurrence successful Nairobi. A pupil was charged with murder.