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Nine female students accused of planning and carrying out an arson attack that killed 16 girls at a school in central Kenya have been arraigned in court in Naivasha.
The High Court in Naivasha, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) west of the capital, Nairobi, said it would rule on Wednesday on whether the nine girls should be detained for one month pending investigations.
The fire, which broke out on May 28, swept through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls School that housed 202 students.
According to investigators, the school matron failed to unlock an emergency exit, forcing students to flee through a single door.
The accused students have been in police custody for five days. During that period, investigators alleged that the fire was started by setting a mattress ablaze near the dormitory exit using a matchstick and paraffin.
Some of the victims’ bodies were burned beyond recognition. Authorities said DNA tests are underway to confirm their identities, with results expected on Wednesday.
Investigators said CCTV footage from the dormitory showed six students gathering in a hallway near the exit and igniting the fire shortly before other students awoke and rushed to escape.
About 79 students were injured in the incident, seven of whom were airlifted to Nairobi for specialised treatment.
Since the tragedy, five additional school fires have been reported in different parts of the country. The Kenya Red Cross said it has responded to 37 school fire incidents since the beginning of the year, although none of the other cases resulted in fatalities.
School fires are a recurring problem in Kenya. The deadliest occurred in 2001, when 67 students died in Machakos County. The most recent fatal school fire before the Utumishi Girls School tragedy occurred in 2024, when 21 children died in Nyeri County.
Fires at schools have long been a concern for education authorities across East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often overcrowded and access to firefighting equipment remains
