A fire in a girls' dormitory in Kenya on Thursday killed 16 children and hospitalized 79 in the latest deadly blaze to hit a school in the east African country.
The fire broke out shortly before 1:00 am local time at Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru County, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital Nairobi, officials said.
There have been many devastating school fires in Kenya, where boarding schools are common as a colonial legacy of missionaries and the British.
It was unclear how old the victims of Thursday's blaze were.
"We have 16 fatalities. It's an unfortunate incident," education minister Julius Migos Ogamba told reporters at the scene.
Frantic parents were being held outside the school buildings by authorities as investigators raced to identify the victims.
"Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters," President William Ruto said on X, describing it as an "unimaginable tragedy".
The school is linked to the National Police Service and most pupils are the children of officers, said interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen.
"We know that this is a very anxious moment," he told reporters.
Asked about the cause of the fire, Murkomen called for patience while investigations were ongoing and urged people to avoid speculation.
Children have been accused of deliberately starting school fires in the past. One report found there were 63 arson cases at schools in 2018 alone.
Pupils were accused after a 2001 dormitory fire in the southern county of Machakos killed 67.
A fire in 2024 killed 21 boys after flames engulfed a dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county.
A 2017 report by Kenya's National Crime Research Centre blamed exam stress and long school terms and said students in different schools were communicating via smuggled phones, leading to copycat acts.
After the deadly 2024 fire, the government promised a safety audit of all schools and to prosecute violators, but it is not clear if any measures were implemented.
