Local media reported that a fire broke out around 1 a.m. local (and Lithuanian) time at the girls’ academy “Utumishi” in Nakuru County, about 120 km north of the capital Nairobi.
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It is not yet clear whether all the victims are children, but a statement from local officials said the fire broke out in a dormitory where about 220 girls were sleeping.
“The first rescuers, ambulance crew, and our support staff are currently at the scene,” a Kenya Red Cross representative told AFP, refusing to specify the number of victims.
The school is affiliated with the National Police Service and is located in an area where several military and training facilities are based.
According to local media, officials did not allow panicking parents to enter the school buildings.
In Kenya, where boarding schools are common – a legacy of missionaries and British colonialism – there have been many devastating fires in schools.
In 2024, 21 boys died when flames engulfed a dormitory at the “Hillside Endarasha” academy in Neri County.
In the past, children were accused of deliberately setting fires. One report states that there were 63 arson cases in schools in 2018 alone.
In 2017, a report by the Kenya National Crime Research Center blamed exam stress and long school years for this, also stating that students from different schools communicated via smuggled phones, which led to acts of imitation.
After the aforementioned 2024 fire, the government promised to conduct a safety audit of all schools and hold offenders criminally responsible.
