At least three students were injured after a fire broke out at Isiolo Girls High School, a boarding school in central Kenya’s Isiolo town, according to the Red Cross.
The fire, which occurred on Saturday, destroyed dormitories before being contained by emergency services.
The cause of the blaze is still unknown, though Kenya has seen multiple fires in boarding schools over recent years, raising concerns about safety standards.
The Kenya Red Cross confirmed that three students suffered minor injuries and received psychological first aid.
Rescue teams, police, and firefighters were seen searching the wreckage for students and salvageable property, as reported by Reuters.
This incident follows a deadly fire at a boarding school in Nyeri, also in central Kenya, which claimed the lives of at least 21 children on Thursday night.
According to officials, 17 students remain missing, and DNA testing is set to begin on Monday to identify the bodies of those who perished in the blaze at Hillside Endarasha Academy.
President William Ruto declared three days of mourning, starting Monday, in honor of the victims.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the Nyeri fire, but Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga stated that investigators would “assess whether or not the tragedy may have resulted from negligence and/or recklessness.”
Ingonga noted that the tragedy “evokes bad memories” of past school fires, often linked to poor safety standards.
Similar incidents in Kenya’s history include a 2017 arson attack at Moi Girls High School in Nairobi, which claimed 10 lives, and the deadliest school fire in the country’s history, when 67 students died in Machakos County more than two decades ago.
Source-BBC
