The Kenyan authorities on Friday arrested eight students on the suspicion of setting fire to a dormitory at a girls boarding school the day before, killing 16 schoolmates and injuring 79 others.
The country’s criminal investigations unit said in a statement on X that the eight students, all girls, were “persons of interest” in the planning and execution of the suspected arson attack. They could be charged in court as soon as Tuesday, said Julius Ogamba, the Kenyan education minister.
As part of the inquiry, investigators said they had conducted interviews and reviewed CCTV footage, and were still analyzing evidence from the fire. The motive was not clear.
The blaze broke out shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday local time at the Utumishi Girls Academy in the town of Gilgil and was contained by 3 a.m., according to Mr. Ogamba. The high school is run by Kenya’s police. Gilgil is about 75 miles northwest of the capital, Nairobi.
The disaster renewed concern about fire safety in the country’s schools. A 2020 government audit found that most schools in Kenya were ill-prepared for such emergencies. Many lacked working extinguishers and alarms despite a detailed national safety manual published in 2008, a year with a wave of school fires.
A 2024 fire at an elementary school killed 21 children in a dormitory housing more than 300 students. Kenya’s deadliest such blaze was in 2001, when students set fire to a high school in Machakos, southeast of Nairobi, killing 67 students.
Mr. Ogamba said on Friday that two teachers who had reportedly been informed of the latest suspected arson would face disciplinary action, and that the school’s management had been dissolved for failing to enforce safety standards.
“There was congestion in the dormitory, and one exit door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” Mr. Ogamba said.
Parents interviewed on the scene said that children had had to jump out of windows, sustaining head and other injuries. Seven students who had been admitted to a nearby hospital were airlifted to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, the nation’s main medical facility, for specialized care, Mr. Ogamba said.
On Friday, parents complained of getting little information from the authorities. A day earlier, some had demanded to know the whereabouts of their children.
Kenya’s criminal investigations unit said that autopsies were underway at a nearby hospital, where the bodies would be identified.
