Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba has confirmed that 16 students died following a fire outbreak at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, as investigations into the cause of the tragedy continue.
Speaking in a press briefing at the school on Thursday, 28th May, accompanied by Ogamba, said the fire broke out shortly after midnight and destroyed one of the dormitories, leaving dozens of learners injured.
“At about 12:45 am, a fire broke out on one of the dorms on the second floor of that particular dorm and the dorm is completely destroyed, together with a lot of injuries to our learners, and unfortunately, we lost some of our learners in that incident,” Ogamba said.
The CS revealed that the school has a student population of 815 girls, with 808 present at the time of the incident.
“Out of the 808 girls, 79 were injured and taken to hospital. They were treated and 71 of them were discharged. We have seven currently admitted and one has been picked by the parent from the hospital,” he stated.
Ogamba added that authorities were still working to formally identify the 16 students who died in the blaze.
“Out of that 808, we have 16 fatalities whose identities will be identified. The process of accounting will be taking place with our investigators. It’s an unfortunate incident,” he said.
According to the Education CS, emergency teams from various agencies responded to the scene and managed to contain the fire after several hours.
“At the time of the fire, responses were received from our security agencies, county fire brigade and Kenya Red Cross among others. The response teams managed to put out the fire by about 3am, but by then the damage had already been done,” he said.
Ogamba noted that crime scene investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters had already begun processing the area as part of ongoing investigations.
“We currently have our CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) in place from DCI headquarters, who are processing the scene with a view of identifying all the victims,” he stated.
The CS also announced that the government had activated hotline number 1199 to help parents seeking information and counselling services.
“That hotline number will also be available for counselling. We’ll be releasing learners who are here present with their parents in the course of the day and we’ll continue briefing on the process of the investigations and the outcome,” Ogamba said.
On the cause of the fire, the CS said investigators had not yet established what triggered the incident.
“Investigations are ongoing but the cause of the fire is not yet identified. We’ll be able to give that information once investigations are complete,” he added.
Ogamba also conveyed condolences to the affected families and wished the injured students a quick recovery.
“I take this opportunity to pass, on behalf of the ministry and myself, condolences to the families and continue wishing those who are injured quick recovery,” he said.
