A tragic fire at Utumishi Girls High School left at least 10 students dead and several others injured after a dormitory caught fire in the early hours of Thursday morning.
According to the Rift Valley Regional Police Commander, Samuel Ndanyi, emergency and rescue teams were deployed to the school in Gilgil to search for students who may still be trapped following the blaze.
The fire was reported at around 3:30 a.m., with responders from Kenya Red Cross joining police, medical personnel, and other emergency agencies at the scene.
The organization said its ambulance crews, first responders, and psychosocial support teams were assisting affected students and families.
Many injured students were rushed to St Joseph’s Hospital for treatment and assessment.
Authorities said the process of identifying victims and informing families was ongoing, while parents gathered in large numbers outside the school seeking information about their children.
Police restricted access to the institution as rescue operations and investigations continued.
This caused panic among some of them.
Witnesses described the scene as devastating, with parts of the dormitory extensively damaged by the fire.
The cause of the blaze had not been established by Thursday morning, and investigators had launched a probe into the incident.
The tragedy comes amid a worrying rise in school fire incidents across Kenya in recent weeks.
Police say several schools have experienced unrest, strikes, and destruction of property, leading some institutions to close temporarily.
Officials say investigations are ongoing to determine the causes behind the wave of incidents.
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