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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya has killed 18 students and 27 others have been hospitalized, with 70 children unaccounted for, the country’s deputy president said Friday.
President William Ruto declared three days of mourning during which flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of the children who died.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said only 86 out of more than 150 children had been accounted for, and urged community members who may have sheltered some of them to help account for them.
Gachagua said that one more student had died at the hospital and that 37 pupils had been reunited with their parents so far.
The cause of the fire Thursday night at Hillside Endarasha Primary school in Nyeri County was being investigated, police spokesperson Resila Onyango said. The school serves children up to the age of 14.
Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the education ministry reported that the dormitory that caught fire housed more than 150 boys between ages 10 and 14. Since most of the buildings are made from wooden planks, the fire spread quickly.
The mixed day and boarding private school, which has 824 students, is located 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi, in the country’s central highlands, where wooden structures are common.
Nyeri County Gov. Mutahi Kahiga told journalists that rescue efforts were hampered by muddy roads caused by rains in the area.
Anxious parents who had been unable to find their children among the survivors waited at the school, engulfed with grief.
The parents were overcome by emotions after they were allowed to view the scene of the fire.
John Rukwaro told journalists that his 11-year-old grandson was missing and he had checked with area hospitals without success.
The education ministry's permanent secretary, Belio Kipsang, said that the government was working with the school administration to account for all the children in the boarding section.
“We are asking the parents who picked up their children and the community to support us as we consolidate the numbers to ensure that we account for every child who was boarding in this school,” he said.
Ruto called the news “devastating.”
“I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” he said in an X post.
His deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, urged school administrators to ensure that safety guidelines recommended by the education ministry for boarding schools are being followed.
School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, often caused by arson fueled by drug abuse and overcrowding, according to a recent education ministry report. Many students board because parents believe it gives them more time to study without long commutes.
Some fires have been started by students during protests over the workload or living conditions. In 2017, 10 high school students died in a school fire in Nairobi started by a student.
Kenya's deadliest school fire in recent history was in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos county.
The education ministry's guidelines recommend that dormitories should be spacious enough and have two doors on each end, an emergency door in the middle and that windows aren't fitted with grills in order to allow for escape in case of fire. Fully serviced fire extinguishers and fire alarms are required at easily accessible spots.
It wasn't immediately clear if these guidelines were followed at Hillside school and the area near the dormitory has remained cordoned off.