Kenya primary school fire: 3 days of mourning declared

A school dormitory turned into a crime scene.

On late Thursday (Sep. 5), a fire broke in the building located in central Kenya and killed at least 18 students.

Anxious parents waited Friday (Sep. 6) at Hillside Endarasha Primary school to know the whereabouts of their children.

If 37 pupils reunited with their families, 70 children were still unaccounted for.

VP Rigathi Gachagua therefore urged community members who may have sheltered some of them to help account for them.

The cause of the fire Thursday night at the dormitory in Nyeri County is being investigated.

Authorities said it housed more than 150 boys aged 10 to 14.

Since most of the buildings are made from wooden planks, the fire spread quickly.

Kenya's deadliest school fire in recent history was in 2001 when 67 students died.

The education ministry's guidelines recommend that dormitories should be spacious enough and have two doors on each end, an emergency door in the middle and that windows aren't fitted with grills in order to allow for escape in case of fire. Fully serviced fire extinguishers and fire alarms are required at easily accessible spots.

It wasn't immediately clear if these guidelines were followed at Hillside school and the area near the dormitory has remained cordoned off.

President William Ruto declared three days of mourning starting Monday (Sep. 11) during which flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of the children who died.