16 students killed as fire tears through Kenya school dormitory | CNN

A fire tore through a dormitory at a ​girls’ school in a town in Kenya’s Rift Valley overnight, killing 16 students, the government said on Thursday. The fire, whose cause has not been established, broke out just after midnight at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy ⁠Senior School in Gilgil in west-central Kenya and burned for more than two hours, ​Education Minister Julius Migos told reporters. He said 79 other students were injured, although 71 of them had already been discharged ⁠from hospital. Footage aired on Kenyan television showed broken window panes and smoke-stained walls, while family members gathered outside the school gates to seek news of missing loved ones. Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with more than 100 recorded in 2024, according to the ⁠government. Many fires are set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found. “Investigations are ongoing, but the identification of the cause ​of the fire (at Utumishi Girls’ Academy) is not yet identified,” Migos said. A fire in 2024 at a primary boarding school in nearby ​Nyeri County killed ⁠21 students. Its cause was never ‌conclusively established. “The fire