EIGHT students arrested over Utumishi Girls’ Academy arson fire
EIGHT students arrested over Utumishi Girls' Academy arson fire
Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson over a fire at a Utumishi Girls’ Academy school that killed 16 students, police said on Friday.
The fire at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil broke out in the early hours of Thursday and also injured 79 students.
Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with many set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found.
“Preliminary investigations have identified eight students as persons of interest in connection with the planning and execution of the suspected arson attack,” the police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement.
“The eight girls have since been arrested and are currently in police custody.”
Education Minister Julius Ogamba told a press conference that preliminary investigations found that two teachers at the secondary school had been informed of the students’ alleged plans but failed to act to stop them.
The school also failed to observe safety rules, he said, pointing to overcrowding in the dormitories and an emergency exit that was locked during the fire.
As a result, the government has disbanded the school’s board of management and will take appropriate legal and disciplinary action against any staff found to have neglected their duties, Ogamba said.
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Investigators established that the affected dormitory is a two-storey building whose upper floor sustained extensive fire damage while the ground floor remained largely intact.
The upper floor reportedly consisted of 12 cubicles accommodating a total of 135 double-decker beds.
“A meticulous examination of the scene led to the recovery of sixteen (16) bodies, all of which were moved to Naivasha sub-county Referral Hospital Mortuary pending post-mortem examinations and formal identification,” the DCI stated.
DCI says that sleuths are currently at the crime scene where processing and documentation are still ongoing as detectives work to establish the exact cause of the fire.
Investigators are analysing burn patterns, evaluating electrical installations and determining whether accelerants may have been used.
The DCI further said detectives have conducted extensive interviews with students, teachers and other witnesses, while forensic teams continue reviewing available CCTV footage.
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