Sixteen students have been confirmed dead following a devastating dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, in one of the deadliest school fire tragedies reported in Kenya in recent years.
Police said the death toll rose to 16 after six more students succumbed, while 74 others were admitted to various hospitals with injuries.
Earlier reports had placed the number of fatalities at 10, before authorities confirmed additional deaths as rescue and evacuation operations continued.
The fire reportedly broke out at around 1:00 AM on Thursday, when students were asleep in one of the school dormitories.
Emergency teams, including police officers, firefighters and Kenya Red Cross responders, rushed to the institution as panic spread among students, teachers, parents and residents.
According to police, the injured students were taken to hospitals for treatment, with authorities still working to establish the full scale of the tragedy.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, DCI, also arrived at the scene as investigations began into the cause of the fire.
The incident has thrown the school community into mourning, with anxious parents gathering at the institution and health facilities in search of information about their children.
Officials are expected to release further details after identification of the victims and formal notification of families.
The tragedy is set to trigger fresh scrutiny of safety standards in boarding schools, particularly around dormitory design, emergency exits, night supervision, fire preparedness and response systems.
School fires have previously raised serious questions about compliance with safety guidelines, overcrowding in dormitories, electrical faults and possible arson.
The Gilgil incident comes against the painful memory of previous school fire disasters in Kenya, including the 2001 Kyanguli Secondary School fire in Machakos, which killed 67 students, and more recent deadly dormitory fires that prompted national concern over learner safety.
By Thursday morning, security officers had cordoned off the affected section of the school as investigators combed through the burnt dormitory.
The Ministry of Education and county security teams are expected to give a comprehensive update on the number of students accounted for, those still receiving treatment, and the preliminary findings on what may have caused the blaze.
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