{"id":59618,"date":"2026-05-28T06:05:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/at-least-16-students-killed-in-fire-at-kenya-girls-school-dorm\/28\/05\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T06:05:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T10:05:15","slug":"at-least-16-students-killed-in-fire-at-kenya-girls-school-dorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/at-least-16-students-killed-in-fire-at-kenya-girls-school-dorm\/28\/05\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 16 students killed in fire at Kenya girls school dorm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At least 16 students have been killed when a fire ripped through a dormitory at a girls school in a town in central Kenya, police and a government official say.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Education Minister Julius Ogamba said on Thursday that 79 were injured after the fire broke out overnight at the Utumishi Girls School in Gilgil, Nakuru County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The cause of the fire was \u200cnot immediately known.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Police said they were leading rescue and emergency response efforts in the town, located about 120km (74 miles) northwest of the capital, Nairobi.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>An injured student is evacuated following an early morning fire outbreak at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026 [Andrew Kasuku\/AP Photo]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Footage aired by Citizen Television showed broken window panes and smoke-stained walls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Masoud Mwinyi, a senior police commander, told reporters at the school that \u206050 officers were combing areas around the facility for students who may \u2060have fled when the fire \u2060broke out. \u201cOf that shock and fear and anxiety, many people went out, and it was at night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kenya has a long history of school fires. More than 60 cases of arson in public secondary schools were recorded in 2018 alone, according to government data. \u2060Many of the fires have \u2060been set by students protesting against harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2024, a fire \u200ckilled 21 students at a primary boarding school in nearby Nyeri County. The cause of that fire \u200chas \u200cnot been conclusively established.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in Nairobi. A student was charged with murder.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Map of Kenya\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"770\" height=\"433\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/iok08kc0ym5xN348OiszPQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/al_jazeera_289\/0ded49f52336b1c530930b30be059658\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>Map of Kenya<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/world\/articles\/least-16-students-killed-fire-094425964.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least 16 students have been killed when a fire ripped through a dormitory at a girls school in a town in<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/at-least-16-students-killed-in-fire-at-kenya-girls-school-dorm\/28\/05\/2026\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/vLASVJG368F_z0_Kkpe9_Q--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD03NDc7Y2Y9d2VicA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/al_jazeera_289\/4fe0ddc36d5ac5c8476eef93137c9689","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}