Kenya Police Probe School Blaze That Killed 17 Boys

Kenyan police stepped up their investigations Saturday into a prime school dormitory blaze that killed 17 boys, as families faced an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones

Endarasha, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Sep, 2024) Kenyan police stepped up their investigations Saturday into a prime school dormitory blaze that killed 17 boys, as families faced an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had said on Friday that 70 youngsters were still unaccounted for after the fire broke out at Hillside Endarasha Academy in the central Nyeri county around midnight Thursday.

The flames engulfed a dormitory at the primary school where more than 150 boys aged between nine and 13 were sleeping.

The cause of the inferno is not yet known but homicide investigators and forensic experts were at the school on Saturday, while media were barred from the site.

The charred bodies of victims, which police had said were burnt beyond recognition, were still in the dormitory, now a blackened shell with its corrugated iron roof completely collapsed.

"Today we want to begin the process of DNA testing," Kenya's chief homicide detective Martin Nyuguto told AFP at the scene.

President William Ruto declared three days of national mourning starting from Monday after what he described as an "unfathomable tragedy".

He said on Friday that 17 children had lost their lives, while 14 had sustained injuries and were being treated in hospital.

"I pledge that the difficult questions that have been asked such as how this tragedy occurred and why the response was not timely will be answered; fully, frankly, and without fear or favour," Ruto said in a statement.

"All relevant persons and bodies will be held to account."