Around 1:00 am on Thursday, 28 May 2026, fire engulfed a dormitory at Utumishi Girls’ Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, claiming the lives of at least 16 students. While the rest of Kenya slept, the all-girls dormitory was torn apart by flames, leaving dozens of others injured.
Although the cause of the fire has not yet been established, the Kenyan Red Cross confirmed that emergency services were first alerted closer to 3:30 am, according to RZN. Emergency responders, including local firefighters and Kenya Defence Forces personnel, battled the blaze until it was contained. However, the speed at which the fire spread left little time for escape, as many students were fast asleep when the inferno began.
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The Minister of Education, Julius Ogamba, confirmed that 79 students were injured and are receiving treatment in nearby hospitals. WYFF4 reports that the school—which enrols over 800 students and is sponsored by the Kenya Police Service—has since been closed indefinitely while investigations continue.
According to WYFF4, eyewitness Wambui Nderitu said the matron opened one of two dormitory doors ‘without alerting the children to exit’.
‘The second door remained closed, and even though my cousin escaped with a leg injury, we’ve been told many children are injured and some died’, Nderitu said.
President William Ruto expressed his profound sorrow over the loss of the students at the government-owned secondary school. He has directed security agencies to prioritise the treatment of the injured, ordered that full support be given to grieving families, and demanded a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire.
Kenya boarding school fire is fast becoming a tragic pattern. The nation has previously been haunted by the 2001 Machakos tragedy, which claimed 67 lives, and a 2017 school fire in Nairobi that killed 10 students. More recently, in 2024, the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire claimed the lives of 21 boys. These recurring incidents continue to raise urgent questions about accountability and prevention.
Distraught families from the Kenya boarding school fire have gathered at local hospitals and the school campus seeking answers. Mothers and fathers who sent their daughters to school in pursuit of a brighter future now face the unbearable task of mourning or waiting anxiously for news. The Kenya Red Cross has deployed tracing and psychosocial support teams to assist those affected.
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