Fire kills at least 10 at girls school in central Kenya

A fire at a boarding school for girls in central Kenya killed at least 10 students, police said Thursday.

Samuel Ndanyi, the regional police commander, told Capital FM that search teams had been sent to the scene at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area. County police official Masoud Mwinyi told parents gathered outside the school that the situation was "distressing and saddening," according to Citizen Television.

The fire started early Thursday morning in the dormitory section. The cause has not been determined, and authorities were still trying to account for all students.

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools. Some are set deliberately and others result from electrical faults.

Kenya's deadliest recent school fire was in 2001, when 67 students died in a dormitory blaze in Machakos County. In 2024, 21 students died in a school fire in central Kenya, prompting President William Ruto to declare three days of mourning. Ten students died in a Nairobi school fire in 2017, and a student was later charged with murder.