AT LEAST 17 BOYS DIE IN A DORMITORY FIRE AT A KENYAN BOARDING SCHOOL

Anxious parents gather outside Hillside Endarasha Primary Academy in Nyeri, Kenya.

Fri 06 September 2024:

The death toll in a fire at central Kenyan school early Friday morning has risen to 17, authorities confirmed.

The blaze broke out at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Nairobi, engulfing a dormitory and reducing it to ashes.

Critically injured students have been rushed to Mathari Mission Hospital and Nyeri County Referral Hospital for treatment, Kenya’s government spokesperson Isaac Maigua Mwaura said in a statement.

“The affected dormitory housed boys from grades 4 to 8. A total of 156 boys were residing in the dormitory,” Mwaura said.

He added that emergency services are still determining the final number of fatalities, with updates to follow as more information becomes available.

Hillside Endarasha is not the first school fire in Kenya. Rules now require dorms to have 2 doors, an emergency exit, fire extinguishers and more.

So how did 17 boys get burnt beyond recognition in a dorm that held 156 learners? pic.twitter.com/ow7EapsTKv

— Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) September 6, 2024

The fire caused such extensive damage that identifying the victims has been difficult as many were burned beyond recognition, according to a local TV network.

Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.

In September 2017, a fire at Moi Girls’ School in Nairobi killed nine students, later determined to be an act of arson.

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Kenyan schools ill-prepared to handle firespublished at 12:45 British Summer Time

A report released four years ago, external had warned that many secondary schools in Kenya were not well prepared to respond to fires, and didn’t adhere to government safety standards.

The report by the country’s auditor general, which looked at about 40 secondary schools from across the country, revealed that many lacked proper equipment to handle fire outbreaks and were not constructed in accordance with required safety standards.

The Safety Standards Manual for Schools in Kenya, issued in 2008, external, for example require school buildings to have doors that open outwards.

But the audit discovered about half of the schools had classrooms with doors opening inwards.

Five out of the schools checked had dormitories with doors opening inwards.

“In the event of fire, students are likely to lock (sic) themselves from the inside of the buildings as they struggle to get out, given the population in the schools,” the report noted.

Other schools had windows with reinforced metal grills, making it hard for learners to escape in case of fires.

Overcrowding was also common in most of the schools.

The fire in Nyeri county was at a primary school, although observers believe it’s unlikely that adherence to safety standards is any better in primary schools.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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