Fire at Utumishi Girls School in Kenya Kills at Least 16 Students

At least 16 students have been killed when a fire ripped through a dormitory at a girls school in a town in central Kenya, police and a government official say. Education Minister Julius Ogamba said on Thursday that 79 were injured after the fire broke out overnight at the Utumishi Girls School in Gilgil, Nakuru County.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said they were leading rescue and emergency response efforts in the town, located about 120km northwest of the capital, Nairobi. Footage aired by Citizen Television showed broken window panes and smoke-stained walls.

Masoud Mwinyi, a senior police commander, told reporters at the school that 50 officers were combing areas around the facility for students who may have fled when the fire broke out. “Of that shock and fear and anxiety, many people went out, and it was at night,” he said.

Kenya has a long history of school fires. More than 60 cases of arson in public secondary schools were recorded in 2018 alone, according to government data. Many of the fires have been set by students protesting against harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found.

In 2024, a fire killed 21 students at a primary boarding school in nearby Nyeri County. The cause of that fire has not been conclusively established. In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in Nairobi. A student was charged with murder.