Fire tears through Kenya boarding school dormitory, killing 17 boys
World
Fire tears through Kenya boarding school dormitory, killing 17 boys
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A fire killed 17 boys when it tore through the dormitory in which they were sleeping at a boarding school in central Kenya in the early hours of Friday, police said.
"We saw several children in there that had been burnt," Phillip Gathogo, a local resident, told reporters.
"I was just lucky to save one of them, but I heard that he later died. It was a very troubling and sad tragedy."
The blaze occurred at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri, a primary boarding school for young students about 150 km (93 miles) from the capital Nairobi.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the boys were in grades 4 to 8, putting their ages at about 9 to 13-years-old. He said in a statement the dormitory housed 156 students.
"We have lost 17 pupils in the fire incident while 14 are injured," police spokesperson Resila Onyango said. "Our team is at the scene at the moment."
Vice President Rigathi Gachagua said 70 pupils remained unaccounted for, although he added that some may have been taken home by their parents in the night.
