Overview
- A fire that broke out Thursday morning in a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil destroyed a sleeping block and left 16 students dead and 79 injured.
- Kenyan police have taken eight schoolgirls into custody on suspicion of arson and say investigators are working to determine whether the blaze was planned and carried out.
- Forensic teams are analysing video and other evidence while investigators have interviewed students, teachers and witnesses to reconstruct the events.
- Education Minister Julius Ogamba said preliminary findings point to safety-rule breaches and that two teachers were told of alleged plans but did not act, prompting the dissolution of the school management board and the start of legal and disciplinary proceedings.
- Authorities have moved victims' bodies to a state mortuary for DNA identification and hospitals are treating dozens of injured students as the case renews concerns about recurring, preventable boarding-school fires in Kenya.