Fire at girls' boarding school in Kenya kills 16

A fire at a girls' boarding school in Kenya has killed 16 students, the government has said.

The blaze broke out early Thursday morning in the dormitory of the Utumishi Girls' ​Academy Senior School, located ‌in Gilgil, in the county of Nakuru and about 74 miles (120km) from the capital, Nairobi.

Education Minister Julius Migos said that 79 other students had been injured, although 71 of them had already been ​discharged from hospital.

The cause of the fire, which police said has been contained, has not yet been established.

Mr Migos said: "Investigations are ongoing, but the cause of the fire is not yet identified."

Footage aired ​by Citizen Television showed broken window panes ⁠and smoke-stained walls.

"The fire started from an upper dome, and spread ​all over within that time," Eunice Mureithi, whose daughter escaped ​the fire, told the NTV television station, referring to part of ⁠the school's structure.

"It had barricaded a part of the dome to one side, and to the other side the students were unable to come out, but ⁠a lot of them were able to escape."

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, where many students stay because parents believe it gives them more time to study without long commutes.

In 2024, at least 17 students were killed after a fire at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county.

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Ten high school students died in a school fire in Nairobi in In 2017.

In 2001, 58 schoolboys were killed in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi.

Eight students were killed at a school in Homa Bay County in western Kenya in 2012.

(c) Sky News 2026: Fire at girls' boarding school in Kenya kills 16