Kenyan Court Awaits Decision on Detention of Students Accused in Fatal School Fire
Nairobi, Kenya — A group of nine students faced a Kenyan court on Tuesday, accused of orchestrating a devastating arson attack that resulted in the deaths of 16 girls at a school located in central Kenya. Investigators have requested additional time to delve deeper into the tragic incident.
The High Court in Naivasha, a town situated 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Nairobi, is set to decide on Wednesday whether the accused students will remain in detention for a month as investigations continue.
The fire, which erupted on May 28, devastated the dormitory at Utumishi Girls School, which accommodates 202 students. An emergency door remained unopened by the school matron, leading students to rush through a single exit, according to the investigation team.
Interrogations during their five-day police custody revealed that the blaze was ignited by setting a mattress on fire with a matchstick and paraffin at the dormitory’s exit. The motive behind this act remains unclear.
Authorities expect DNA test results to identify some of the severely burnt bodies to be available by Wednesday. Surveillance footage from the dormitory showed six students initiating the fire just before their peers awoke, leading to a frantic escape that left 79 injured.
Since this incident, there have been five additional school fires reported across different regions in Kenya, with the Kenya Red Cross responding to 37 school fires since the year’s start. Thankfully, these incidents have not resulted in casualties.
School fires are a recurring issue in Kenya, largely due to overcrowded classrooms and inadequate firefighting resources. The most catastrophic school fire occurred in 2001 in Machakos County, claiming 67 lives. More recently, in 2024, an incident in Nyeri County led to the deaths of 21 children.
There have been instances where students have resorted to arson as a response to disciplinary challenges within schools.
