At least three students were injured in a fire at a girls’ boarding school in the central Kenyan town of Isiolo on Saturday, according to the Red Cross.
This follows the deaths of at least 21 children in a fire at a boarding school in Nyeri, also in central Kenya, at around 11pm local time (20:00 GMT) on Thursday.
A Kenyan police spokesman said the fire destroyed dormitories at Isiolo Girls High School but was later brought under control.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but there have been numerous fires at boarding schools in Kenya in recent years, raising national concerns about safety standards.
According to the Kenyan Red Cross, three children were slightly injured and received first psychological help.
Police, firefighters and rescue workers were seen using flashlights as they searched the destroyed dormitories for students and salvageable property, Reuters news agency reported.
Meanwhile, DNA testing will begin on Monday to identify the bodies of the children who died in the fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy on Thursday night.
Authorities say 17 children are still missing, and some parents and relatives have been stationed at the school demanding answers.
President William Ruto has declared three days of mourning, starting on Monday, for the victims of the fire.
The cause of the fire is still unclear.
Investigators must “assess whether the tragedy was the result of negligence and/or recklessness,” the chief prosecutor said in a statement.
Public prosecutor Renson Ingonga said the tragedy “brings back bad memories of other similar school fires” where safety standards were often not followed.
In 2022, a dormitory in western Kenya burned down. Several students were later arrested on suspicion of arson.
In 2017, 10 students were killed in an arson attack at Moi Girls High School in the capital Nairobi.
At least 67 students were killed in Machakos County, southeast of Nairobi, in Kenya’s deadliest school arson attack in more than 20 years.
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