At least 17 children died when a fire ripped through the dormitory of their boarding school about 60 miles north of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the police said on Friday, and there were concerns that the death toll could rise.
The cause of the fire on Thursday night is not yet known, but it brought renewed attention to safety concerns in Kenyan education, particularly in boarding schools.
There were at least 150 children in the dormitory of Hillside Endarasha Primary School in Nyeri County when the fire broke out, said Resila Onyango, the spokeswoman for the national police.
The authorities rushed to the scene, where they were investigating the cause of the fire and assessing the extent of the damage it caused.
Sixteen children were burned beyond recognition, while one died while being rushed to hospital, Ms. Onyango said. An additional 15 children were being treated for injuries.
“This is devastating news,” President William Ruto said on social media. “Those responsible will be held to account.”
Kenya has a legacy of boarding schools, dating to the country’s colonial period. Public and private schools are popular with parents, sometimes as a form of prestige or, in rural areas, to spare children from commuting long distances to receive an education.
But there have been long-running concerns about the safety record of the schools. The government appointed a task force in late 2016, in response to a series of arson attacks related to student unrest.
But in 2017, just weeks after the investigation into safety standards had concluded, 10 students died in a fire at a prestigious girls’ school in Nairobi.
The report laid out a set of requirements intended to prevent overcrowding and requiring better building standards.
Rigathi Gachagu, Mr. Ruto’s deputy, urged schools on Friday to enforce the safety and security measures imposed by the education ministry and other agencies in order to “avert such incidences.”
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