Sixteen students died and 79 were injured in an overnight dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Kenya, renewing scrutiny of fire precautions at the country’s boarding schools. More than 800 children were on the campus, about 120 kilometres northwest of Nairobi, when the blaze began.
Police said flames broke out at about 01:00 local time in a dormitory block housing roughly 220 students. Emergency teams brought the fire under control by around 03:00. Most of those hurt were later discharged, but some pupils suffered injuries after jumping from the building’s upper floor to escape.
Police commander Masoud Mwinyi said students who had fled into surrounding areas during the confusion were still being traced. About 12 hours after the fire, some parents remained outside without confirmation of their children’s whereabouts. Families described a disorganised and frightening wait as authorities tried to account for everyone.
Roselyn Rakamba said she travelled to the academy after a friend alerted her, before her 14-year-old daughter contacted her to say she was safe. Another relative, Wambui Nderitu, located her cousin alive but with a broken leg. Their relief was tempered by the deaths and uncertainty facing other families.
Authorities had not determined the cause and Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen asked the public to avoid speculation. He offered condolences and urged patience while officials identified the dead and accounted for students. The absence of a finding meant the incident could not yet be attributed to arson, an accident or a specific safety breach.
The disaster nevertheless revived questions about longstanding hazards in school accommodation. Kenya’s education ministry found in a 2024 assessment that many schools had barred dormitory windows, only one exit and inward-opening doors. Congestion was also widespread. The ministry said 348 schools were closed immediately after that review.
Kenya has recorded repeated boarding-school fires. At least 21 people died in a dormitory blaze two years earlier, while the country’s deadliest school fire killed 67 pupils in Machakos County in 2001 after students set the building alight. Education officials had also reported 126 school-arson cases between January and November 2020. Those incidents explain the focus on standards, but do not establish the cause at Utumishi. Investigators still needed to determine how the fire began, how students escaped, whether safety rules were followed and why some families waited so long for information. The 79 injuries included pupils already released from hospital, so the figure did not mean all remained under treatment.
The school’s population and dormitory occupancy are different figures: more than 800 pupils were on campus, while about 220 slept in the affected block. That distinction helps explain why officials were tracing children who scattered beyond the immediate fire scene and why the process of confirming survivors extended well into the day.
