At least 16 students have died and 79 others injured after a devastating fire tore through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy Senior School in Gilgil, Nakuru County, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba confirmed the death toll, describing the incident as a national tragedy that had left families, students, teachers and the wider education sector in mourning. The injured students were taken to various hospitals for treatment, while emergency responders, police and humanitarian teams remained at the school as investigations began.
The fire broke out overnight in one of the school dormitories while students were asleep. By morning, the dormitory had been extensively damaged, with images from the scene showing smoke-stained walls, broken windows and sections of the building reduced to charred remains.
Authorities had not established the cause of the fire by the time of publication. CS Ogamba said investigators would examine the circumstances leading to the blaze, including whether the school’s fire-safety manual and emergency-response procedures were followed.
Utumishi Girls Academy Senior School is a government-owned girls’ boarding school in Gilgil, about 120 kilometres from Nairobi. The institution is associated with the Kenya Police Service, and many of its students are reported to be children of police officers.
Police officers led the initial rescue and response operations, while the Kenya Red Cross deployed medical, tracing and psychosocial support teams to assist students and families affected by the tragedy. Several students were evacuated to hospitals, and support desks were set up to help families trace their children.
At the school, anxious parents and guardians gathered seeking information about their daughters. The authorities had not publicly released the names of the deceased students, pending identification and notification of their families.
The tragedy has revived long-standing concerns about safety in Kenyan boarding schools, particularly dormitory design, overcrowding, locked exits, night supervision, fire drills and emergency evacuation systems. Education officials are expected to face renewed pressure to enforce safety standards across public and private boarding institutions.
Kenya has suffered several deadly school fires in the past. In 2001, 67 students died in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County. In 2017, 10 students died in a fire at Moi Girls School in Nairobi. In 2024, another school fire in central Kenya killed 21 students, prompting a national debate on boarding-school safety.
The Utumishi Girls fire now adds to that painful history and raises urgent questions about whether existing safety guidelines are being properly implemented and monitored.
Leaders and education stakeholders have sent condolences to the bereaved families and called for a thorough investigation. Families of the injured students are also awaiting updates on their recovery, while the school community begins to come to terms with one of the deadliest school fires in recent Kenyan history.
As investigations continue, the focus is expected to shift from rescue and treatment to accountability, prevention and support for survivors. Authorities are under pressure to provide clear answers on how the fire started, why so many students were unable to escape safely, and what measures will be taken to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.