KENYA.— A fire in a interned in Kenya deja 18 students dead and 27 others hospitalized. In addition, the whereabouts of another 70 children are unknown, the country’s vice president said Friday.
The President William Ruto declared three days of mourning during which flags will fly at half-mast in honor of the deceased children.
The Vice President Rigathi Gachagua He said only 86 of the more than 150 children had been located, and urged community members who may have sheltered some of them to help locate them.
Plus one more student had died in the hospital and so far 37 students have met with their parents.
The cause of Thursday night’s fire at the elementary school Hillside Endarashain the county of Nyeriis under investigation, police spokeswoman Resila Onyango said.
Search for missing minors after fire
Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the Ministry of Education said the burnt-out dormitory housed More than 150 children between 10 and 14 years oldSince most of the buildings are made of wood, the fire spread quickly.
The private mixed school, which has 824 studentsis located 200 kilometers north of the capital, Nairobi, in the central highlands of the country, where the Wooden structures are common.
Rescue efforts were hampered by mud on the roads caused by rain in the area.
Parents waited at the school to receive information, and were overcome with emotion when they were allowed to see the site of the fire.
A man reported that his 11-year-old grandson, was missing and that he had searched for him without success in the hospitals in the area.
“We are asking parents who picked up their children and the community to support us as we consolidate the numbers to ensure we account for all children who were admitted to this school,” she said.
Kenyan school fires
Fires in boarding schools are common in Kenya, often caused by drug use and overcrowdingaccording to a recent report by the Ministry of Education. Many students study in boarding schools because their parents believe that this will give them more time to study without long journeys.
Some fires have been provoked by their own students during protests over workload or living conditions. In 2017, 10 secondary school pupils were killed in such an incident at a school in Nairobi.
The deadliest school fire in recent Kenyan history occurred in 2001, when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos County.
The Ministry of Education guidelines recommend that dormitories be sufficiently spacious and have two doors at each end, an emergency exit in the center and that the windows do not have bars to allow evacuation in the event of a fire. Fire extinguishers and fire alarms must be located in easily accessible places.
It is not yet clear whether Hillside High School followed these guidelines and the area around the dormitory remains cordoned off.
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2024-09-19 20:24:11
