Utumishi Girls arson suspects identified, DCI says

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said Sunday they had positively identified the students who allegedly lit the fire that killed 16 students at Utumishi Girls Senior Secondary School in Gilgil, Nakuru County.

The DCI said a major breakthrough was achieved following a detailed forensic analysis of CCTV footage recovered from the school.

According to the agency, investigators conducted an enhanced review of the footage at the Forensic Imaging and Acoustic Laboratory within the National Police Service Forensics Laboratory, leading to the identification of the students involved in the arson incident.

“After conducting a thorough, detailed forensic analysis of the CCTV footage recovered from the school coupled with enhanced review at the Forensic Imaging and Acoustic Laboratory at DCI National Police Service Forensics Laboratory, a positive identification of the students who lit the fire has been realised,” the statement said.

The DCI further revealed that analysis conducted in collaboration with teachers enabled investigators to confirm the identities of seven students who participated in the arson before fleeing the scene.

Of the eight suspects who had initially been arrested, six have been positively identified through the CCTV footage.

The seventh identified student had earlier been released to her parents and is currently not in custody.

“Efforts are now underway to trace and arrest her,” the DCI said.

Investigations show the students used mattresses and matchboxes to set on the fire.

They piled the mattresses at the entrance and lit the fire blocking the only exit.

This chocked some and burnt others.

At least seven students were injured in the drama that followed.

The suspects are said to have been complaining about congestion at the dormitory and had shared the same with some teachers.

The teachers are being investigated over the same.

All the suspects are form three students at the school.

They were detained in separate police cells over the weekend pending their production in courts on Tuesday June 2.

Police said they are investigating murder and arson.

Meanwhile, post-mortem examinations on the 16 students who died in the tragedy have been completed at the Naivasha Subcounty Referral Hospital Mortuary by a team of pathologists led by Dr Dorothy Njeri.

The examinations established that all 16 students died as a result of severe burns sustained during the fire.

The DCI also noted that Kenya Red Cross teams provided psychosocial support to bereaved families at the mortuary, where relatives were allowed to view the bodies of their loved ones.

“DNA reference samples were also collected from the families of the deceased students to facilitate formal identification of the remains, which was necessitated by the extent of the burns,” the DCI said.

The deadly dormitory fire occurred at Utumishi Girls Senior Secondary School in Gilgil on May 28, 2026, and remains one of the country’s worst school fire tragedies in recent years.