Police hold boy after setting dormitory on fire in Bomet County

FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE

A boy aged eight was detained for care and protection after he set a dormitory on fire at a boarding school in Bomet County.

Police and administration at Kriddol Academy said a dormitory that housed 40 pupils was burnt down.

Other pupils lost their belongings in the fire incident.

Police said the suspect is a grade four pupil at the school and he committed the arson in protest against the move by his parents to move him from another school.

The incident happened on January 14 in Kapletundo, Sotik area, police said.

Emergency teams rushed to the scene and accounted for all the 375 pupils who had reported.

It was then that it was established the minor was behind the arson. He told police he was not interested in studying at the new school.

He was taken away for care and protection, police said as they added the probe into the incident was ongoing. Police said no one was injured in the incident. The boy was taken for special care, police said adding they had talked to his parents over the same on the way forward.

Past such incidents left dozens of pupils dead and others wounded in tragedies.

For instance, a fire at a dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy, in Nyeri county in 2024 left at least 17 pupils dead in a tragedy.

More than 150 pupils were in the dormitory when it caught fire at around midnight local time. The average age of the victims was about nine years old, according to the police.

Meanwhile, police in Juakali, Uasin Gishu County, suspected thugs raided Leseru Girls Secondary and stole valuables.

The suspects ransacked the bursar’s office, that of the deputy principal and the director of studies before escaping with unknown documents. The guards who were on duty said they did not hear the break in and were detained for grilling, police said.

Police added no injuries were reported in the attack and investigations into the same are ongoing.