Students were left counting heavy losses after a fierce fire broke out at St Michael Primary School in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, destroying a dormitory.
Preliminary reports indicate the fire kicked off on the morning of Sunday, September 14, at around 9am while students were attending their Sunday church service.
The inferno prompted a response from the Kirinyaga County Fire Brigade alongside local residents who rushed to the scene to contain the blaze, but damage was already done.
Images obtained by Kenyans.co.ke showed the extent of the damage, with the fire completely consuming beds and boxes beyond recovery.
Kerugoya Chief Justus Mwai has since confirmed the incident, saying that the inferno had left at least 60 students, who were being housed in the dormitory, counting losses.
No injuries were reported at the time of publication of this article, as Mwai confirmed nearly all students were engaged in other commitments when the fire broke out.
While there are suggestions that the fire stemmed from an electrical fault, investigations are underway to ascertain the real cause of the blaze.
This was the fourth fire incident inside a Kenyan boarding school in less than five days in what is becoming a worrying trend in the country. As recently as on Friday, September 12, an inferno broke out at Mbooni Boys High School in Makueni County, destroying a dormitory.
The fire was the second one in Makueni county in a span of 24 hours after Mumbuni Girls Secondary School in Machakos saw a dormitory going up in flames on September 11.
A recent report also painted a worrying picture in Kenyan schools, as it revealed that more than 85 per cent of primary and secondary schools in the country lack non-motor insurance cover, effectively exposing millions of students, teachers, and critical infrastructure to risk.
Of the 46,322 schools registered in the country by the end of 2023, only 6,784 had any form of non-motor insurance, representing just 14.6 per cent of all schools.
The remaining 39,538 schools are completely uninsured against common risks such as fire, burglary, personal accidents, or public liability.
