2024 Nyeri school fire

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2024 Nyeri school fire
Date5 September 2024 (2024-09-05)
Time2AM local time (11PM UK time)
Location Belle Vue, Nyeri County, Kenya
Deaths21

Early in the morning of 5 September 2024, a fire broke out in a dormitory of Hillside Endarasha Academy, a school in Belle Vue, Nyeri County, Kenya, killing 21 students. [1]

Contents

Reactions

Following the fire, reports emerged of the dormitory having been overcrowded, and the National Gender and Equality Commission called for an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the fire. [2] A number of Kenyan boarding schools had had fire incidents in the years prior to the Nyeri fire, [3] the most serious one killing 67 students in a dormitory in 2021, and Education cabinet secretary Julius Ogamba released a statement saying that regulations concerning fire safety needed to be reviewed. [4]

President William Ruto declared 3 days of mourning and ordered an investigation into the fire. [1] [4] In Vatican City Pope Francis sent condolences to the victims' families. [5]

Aftermath

The government announced that Hillside Endarasha Academy would reopen on 9 October, less than 5 weeks after the fire, [6] but on 12 October, a court order forced the school to close its boarding facilities again, due to concerns for the safety and health of the students. [7] During a court hearing in December, the owners stated that the school would reopen as a day school. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 "21 children are dead and dozens unaccounted for in Kenya school fire". NPR. 7 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "Press statement: Tragic fire incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri" (Press release). National Gender and Equity Commission. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  3. ↑ Mukoya, Thomas; Mwangi, Monicah (26 September 2024). "Kenyan school blaze victims mourned at mass funeral". Reuters. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 Majanga, Juma (9 September 2024). "Kenya begins 3-day mourning over deaths of 21 children in school fire". VOA News. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  5. ↑ Watkins, Devin (7 September 2024). "Pope Francis 'deeply saddened' by school fire in Kenya". Vatican News. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  6. ↑ Mwende, Mercy (3 October 2024). "Nyeri's Hillside Endarasha Academy postpones reopening". Daily Nation . Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  7. ↑ Malowa, Didacus (12 October 2024). "Nyeri: High Court Orders Immediate Closure of Hillside Endarasha Boarding, cites pupils' safety". Tuko. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  8. ↑ Mwende, Mercy (20 December 2024). "Hillside Endarasha Academy to become day school, owners tell court after fire that killed 21 boys". Daily Nation . Retrieved 25 March 2025.


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