The Ministry of Education has since reported that the tragic fire incident that occurred at the school in Kieni West Sub County, Nyeri County, on Thursday night, September 5 left 14 other learners injured and are being attended to in various hospitals.
In the wake of the fire tragedy that occurred at Hillside Endarasha Junior Secondary School, claiming the lives of 17 pupils, details are now emerging that the dormitory where the pupils were housed was constructed using timber.
The Ministry of Education has since reported that the tragic fire incident that occurred at the school in Kieni West Sub County, Nyeri County, on Thursday night, September 5 left 14 other learners injured and are being attended to in various hospitals.
The school has a total enrolment of 824. Of these, 402 are boys while 422 are girls, further broken down to 156 boys and 160 girls being boarders while the rest are day scholars. All the 156 boys boarders were accommodated in the ill-fated dormitory.
The discovery that the dormitories were built using timber is significant since timber catches fire quickly, potentially leading to an inferno that can be difficult to contain. To make matters worse, firefighters responding to the incident lacked water hampering rescue operations, a matter which forced them to look for water 16 kilometres away, delaying the response.
Administration block at Hillside Endarasha Academy. /PHOTO
It is worth noting that in 2020, the Auditor General released an audit on schools’ fire preparedness, which revealed that many if not all schools in Kenya are not well prepared for school fires, with Auditor General Nancy Gathungu reporting that several schools have their doors opening inwards. This means that students are likely to lock themselves from inside as they struggle to get out.
“Physical verification revealed that some schools had windows with metal grills contrary to regulations,” the report stated, adding that some schools did not have doors at each end of the dormitory or clearly labelled emergency exits in the middle.
Some dormitories have doorways of less than the recommended five feet for ease of escape. “This is likely to hinder evacuation in the event of a fire, leading to injuries and loss of lives,” reads the report.
The audit established that schools had not acquired the required firefighting equipment due to a lack of committees to inform the school management of such needs. For schools to be able to handle school fires appropriately, the report recommended that the institutions should have fire extinguishers, fire blankets, and fire alarms.
They are also required to have post-evacuation maps at entrances and exits to buildings, classrooms, enclosed hallways, stairways, and offices.
The Ministry of Education revealed that it was working with the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, and the Ministry of Health to manage the situation and ensure the injured learners are given the best medical attention.
President William Ruto, who is on a visit to China, directed the relevant security agencies to expedite investigations into the fire incident. “Our thoughts are with the families of the children who have lost their lives in the fire tragedy at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County.
“This is devastating news. We pray for the speedy recovery of the survivors. I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” he stated.
In line with Ruto’s directive, the Ministry of Education is coordinating with security agencies to investigate the root cause of the fire incident at the school.
So serious is the fire incident that Education Cabinet Secretary (CS) Julius Migos Ogamba cut short his official trip in China is on his way back to join local teams to ensure the situation is addressed with utmost urgency, a matter which sees him go through an approximately 15-hour flight to get back home.
In the meantime, PS Belio Kipsang revealed that he was on the ground leading the local multi-agency team to manage the situation. The real cause of the fire is yet to be established by the time of publishing.
