Hundreds of mourners gathered in Kenya’s central town of Gilgil to honor 16 students who died in a fire at a girls’ school last month.
Kenya mourns 16 students killed in devastating school fire
A mourner looks at a photograph of one of the 16 girls who died in the Utumishi Academy school fire during a memorial service at Gilgil Stadium, Nakuru County, Kenya, Friday,
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AP Photo
The students’ remains were placed in white flower-adorned coffins topped with their portraits.
The memorial service was attended by Kenya’s First Lady Rachel Ruto, who offered words of comfort and said there are ''no easy answers'' to the questions.
Family members, schoolmates and community members paid their respects and remembered the girls during the memorial service, while local leaders called for justice.
The nine accused girls, who were students at the school remain in police custody, with interrogations revealing that the May 28 blaze was started by lighting a mattress at the dormitory’s exit using a matchstick and paraffin.
No motive has been revealed so far.