A total of 21 pupils at Hillside Endarasha Academy school in Nyeri have been confirmed dead following a midnight inferno that destroyed their dormitory. However, a 2020 report by Auditor general paints a grim picture of disregard to fire safety protocols
Nyeri county police boss Benjamin Rotich has said that the school has a population of 824 pupils. According to police report 17 pupils have not been accounted for with parents fearing for the fate of their children.
More than a dozen others have are recuperating in several hospitals with severe burns .The cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county is being investigated, police spokesperson Resila Onyango asserted.
In 2017, 10 students died in an arson attack at Moi Girls High School in the capital Nairobi. At least 67 students died in Machakos County, south-east of Nairobi, in the deadliest Kenyan school arson that took place more than 20 years ago.
Read: Gov’t Pledges Full Accountability For Negligence At Endarasha Academy
Director of Public Prosecution Renson Ingonga said that the incident “evokes bad memories of other similar school fire incidents.”
Breaching Safety Protocols
The fire that torched Endarasha Academy points at a blatant disregard of safety protocols outlined by the Auditor General in 2020 report.
According to the report schools should be equiped with fire safety gears including fire extinguishers, fire blankets, fire alarms and post evacuation maps in every entrance in every entrance of classrooms and dormitories.
It also recommended constant monitoring and evaluation by ministry of education to ensure that schools were up to date with fire safety preparedness. However, Endarasha Academy is reported to have met few if any of the protocols which led to Thursday’s gruesome fire.
The investigation into the cause of the inferno is going on with parents and guardinans of pupils who were burn beyond recognition expected to give DNA samples so that they can identify their children.
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