Eight students are suspected of arson after a deadly fire at a girls
school in Kenya
[May 30, 2026]
By EVELYNE MUSAMBI
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya have arrested eight female
students on suspicion of arson, authorities said Friday, after a fire
destroyed a dormitory at a boarding school, killing 16 children and
injuring dozens of others. The motive is still unknown.
Police held 30 students overnight for questioning. Authorities said
school administrators would face disciplinary action for safety
violations after an exit door was found to be locked during the panicked
rush to escape the building. At least 79 people were injured.
Education Minister Julius Ogamba said two teachers were aware that
students were planning something but failed to take appropriate action,
without elaborating.
A full day after the blaze, some parents said they had still not been
told whether their children were under arrest or just being questioned.
“We have not even been told about the eight that police have arrested,”
a parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear that her
daughter could be victimized, told The Associated Press. “We are just
here and no one is giving us any information.”
At a hospital morgue some 28 kilometers (18 miles) from the school,
other parents awaited DNA tests to identify their children. A distraught
father, John Muiruri, said they were being given conflicting information
about the location of the bodies.
“They have just been doing some sideshows, trying to prevent us from
knowing the truth, but the reality we have come to know is that we have
lost our children," he said. “What we want to know is where are the
remains of our daughters.”
The Utumishi Girls School, located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from
the capital, Nairobi, is managed and sponsored by the police, and many
of the students are daughters of police officers.
[to top of second column]
|
A parent of a victim of the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy is
consoled ahead of body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha
Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday,
May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
“Investigators have conducted extensive interviews with students,
teaching staff and other witnesses, while forensic teams carry out a
detailed review of available CCTV footage,” John Marete, a spokesman
for the investigative arm of the national police, said in a
statement.
Education Minister Ogamba said the school's board of management had
been dissolved and the principal would face disciplinary action for
failing to comply with safety regulations.
“In particular, there was congestion in the dormitory and one exit
door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” he
said.
Fires at schools have long been a cause of concern for education
officials in East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often
crowded and firefighting equipment is rarely within reach.
Fires are sometimes attributed to electrical faults but there have
also been cases of students burning down schools because of
disciplinary issues.
___
Associated Press journalist Zelipha Kirobi in Gilgil, Kenya,
contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
