The horror that visited Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni, Nyeri County, on Thursday night in a dormitory fire was clearly evident.
Parents who viewed the scene where 17 children perished after being burnt beyond recognition wailed and shouted, unable to bear the grief of a village losing over a dozen young souls in hours.
They had camped at the scene since morning, demanding to see for themselves the horror—and the place the young boys spent their final moments before their lives were snuffed out by the fire said to have started at 11pm on Thursday night.
Initially, their efforts were repulsed, until Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua arrived at the scene, and allowed them to view the dormitory “for closure.”
But there, really, can be no closure here, as evidenced by the horror, the grief and the pain of those who managed to go in.
Those who were the first to arrive at the school painted the horrific scene where pupils were trapped inside the dormitory while those who had managed to get out were jumping over the fence to escape the inferno.
“We tried our best to save the children. Some residents risked and soaked blankets in water, covered themselves and entered into the dormitory. I saw several emerge from the inferno each holding a child. It was a terrible scene,” Mr Mugo said, adding that the fire was fanned by strong winds.
At the time of the interview on Friday, Mr Mugo was still hoping that his nephew was alive.
“We’re holding onto hope that our son is alive,” he said.
Emotional scenes as parents at Hillside Endarasha Academy allowed to view the burnt dormitory
“When my sister brought her son she told me that she was worried about the dormitory, saying they were squeezed,” he added.
Philip Gathogo who arrived in the school at around 12.30am said one part of the dormitory was built using blocks while the other had timber walls.
“The fire started on the section with blocks and when it got to the timber walled side it raged to an extent we could not put it out. Later, the fire fighters arrive and we managed to put if off,” he said.
He said in frantic efforts to save the children, they also demolished parts of the walls.
“I was called late in the night but I didn’t pick the call since I was asleep. I thank God my son is safe,” said Mary Mbula.
Mr Derrick Kiama, a parent whose Grade Six son is lucky to be alive, says that he got to know about the fire from a fellow parent yesterday night
He said that the parent called him around midnight saying that he had collected his son from the school and was safe with him.
“I told him to take my son home and stay with him until morning, “he said, adding that he chose to stay at the school to support families of children who were affected.
Mr John Rukwaru who had not known the fate of his grandson by the time of publishing said he was called at 11pm and told that a dormitory was on fire.
Parents wait for updates at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County where 17 children died in a night fire on September 6, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
“We tried to put out the fire but it was too much. By the time the fire engines came the blaze had razed down the dormitory,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the children who have lost their lives in the fire tragedy at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County. This is devastating news. We pray for speedy recovery of the survivors. I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account.,” the Head of State posted on his X account.
Mr Gachagua, speaking at the scene Friday evening, said a total of 311 pupils were in school during the fire incident, and that at least 27 were currently admitted in hospital.
The whereabouts of 86 others, he said, had been established.
However, 70 pupils as at 6pm remained unaccounted for, but the Deputy President insisted that this does not mean that they were missing or hurt, as some parents picked up their children after the fire but had not notified authorities.
Earlier, the Ministry of Education had asked parents and relatives to return their kin to the schools for identification and for the final count to be done.
At the time of the fire, the ill-fated dormitory housed 156 boys, Dr Belio Kipsang, the Education Principal Secretary, said.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki says as at now, the cause of the fire had not been established but promised that investigations were underway and forensic analysts had been deployed to find all clues as to what caused the tragedy.
Anxious parents at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County on September 6, 2024.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
“It is extremely painful to lose children in such a manner and we must establish what happened which is part of closure for the families involved. These are our children in their tender lives who came here to seek education. If inaction was involved those responsible will be made to account. We will also support the school and the management is cooperating with security agencies in the investigations. We tell you everything because we have nothing to hide,” Prof Kindiki said.
“This is a very serious matter and we will stay on course and see what happened. However, at this juncture we cannot provide all the information the public is seeking in regard to the incident and we appeal for patience and we will be giving periodic progress of investigations. But we assure that forensic information is being collected and we will get to the bottom of it. If anybody was culpable they will be held to account,” the CS added.
The Deputy President, on his part, asked the public to refrain from sharing false narratives about the fire on social media, noting that this was only worsening the situation.
“As we speak we have pathologists, government chemists and homicide detectives here assessing the situation. There will be a lot of work here and they need a lot of time so that they can be able to collect the body parts and examine the scene,” the DP said.
Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Ahmed Idris said the team is making phone calls to families to find out whether they have their children.
Dr Idris said parents and children who arrived at the school have been given psycho-social support by the organisation
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, on the other hand, said the Mt Kenya and Naromoru Hospitals have been set aside to help the survivors.
He said Mt Kenya Hospital has been designated as a trauma and accident centre while the Naromoru hospital will be used by DCI for forensic investigations.
