Kenyan Court Charges Eight Girls with Murder in Dormitory Fire that Killed 16

A court in Nairobi charged eight schoolgirls, aged 15 to 18, with murder after a fire swept through the dormitory of Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil, Nakuru County, in Kenya's Rift Valley in late May. The blaze killed 16 students and injured 79 others. The girls appeared before Judge Diana Kavedza of the Kibera High Court and pleaded not guilty.

The incident has revived concerns over safety in Kenyan boarding schools, where fires are relatively common and sometimes linked to student unrest. Earlier this year a fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy killed 21 children, and a 2001 blaze at Kyanguli Secondary School claimed 67 lives. Education Minister Julius Ogamba noted that at least 204 senior schools were temporarily closed after the Utumishi fire, though most have since resumed classes.