Kenya to start DNA matching school fire victims
Flames tore through a boys' dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in the central county of Nyeri towards midnight last Thursday as the pupils were sleeping.
Parents and members of the community gather outside the Nyeri county's Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county on 6 September 2024 after a fire broke out killing 17 children. Picture: AFP
NAIROBI - The Kenyan government said Thursday that DNA matching was to begin to identify the victims of a school blaze that killed 21 boys, with investigations into the tragedy at an "advanced stage".
Flames tore through a boys' dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in the central county of Nyeri towards midnight last Thursday as the pupils were sleeping.
Since then, a number of other fires have broken out at schools in Kenya as concerns mount over safety standards in the country's educational establishments.
Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said in a statement on X that investigations to establish the cause of the Endarasha fire were at an "advanced stage".
At Naro Moru hospital in Nyeri county, he said, "DNA matching with the remains of the pupils who perished in the fire is set to commence after the postmortem exercise was carried out today".
"Once the identification of bodies and DNA matching is complete, the bodies will be released... for final rites."
He confirmed that the government could now account for all the pupils at Endarasha, a school that catered for almost 850 boys and girls, about 40% of them boarders.
A total of 164 boys were in the dormitory building that burnt down, including the 21 dead and another three who are still in hospital, Kindiki said.