A 17-year-old student who survived the deadly Utumishi Girls Senior School fire tragedy has recounted the terrifying moments students fought to escape the flames that consumed a dormitory where 16 girls died, 76 were injured, and dozens were left traumatised.
The Form Three learner at the Gilgil Sub-County-based school, who we cannot name, said she was among the 220 students sleeping in the ill-fated Meline Waithera dormitory when the fire broke out in the middle of the night.
The teenager, who joined the school in 2024 from Samburu County, described the night marred with confusion, panic and desperation as smoke quickly spread through the dormitory.
Speaking while collecting her books from the school on Friday, she said the fire started at around 12 am, although she still did not know its cause.
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According to her, she was sleeping in Cube 10 on the upper floor of the dormitory, one of the largest sections that accommodated about 30 students.
The dormitory had five cubes in total, each carrying about 20 students despite having a bigger capacity.
The student, who was asleep at the time, said that she was woken up by screams from within the dormitory, but at first, she did not suspect danger because the dormitory was often noisy, unlike the others. She thought it was just normal noise.
However, the screams grew louder after flames and smoke engulfed part of the building.
As students attempted to flee, confusion erupted after they noticed that the door to the upper dorm had been locked from the outside and the key could not immediately be traced.
As smoke spread rapidly through the dormitory, many students became overwhelmed while trying to find a way out.
According to her, the Meline dormitory has five doors, one on the upper dorm, four on the ground floor (two main entrances and two exits). At the time, the four doors were closed from the inside. The upper dorm door was closed from the outside.
"We, the students who were sleeping on the upper dorm, had to use an alternative exit. When I tried to escape, the smoke became too much and I was forced to go back and look for another way. I removed cardboards to create space so that we could all pass. I managed to jump over, but I injured myself in the process. Other students later helped carry me to safety before I was rushed to hospital," she recalled.
She was first taken to Mathare Hospital before being referred to St Joseph Hospital and later Nairobi Women’s Hospital for specialised treatment.
Doctors at St Joseph Hospital conducted two CT scans but failed to detect the extent of the injuries. She was later referred for an MRI scan at St Mary’s Hospital, which revealed muscle complications caused by the impact and smoke inhalation.
She maintained that they still do not know who locked the doors from the outside that night, as the doors were usually locked from inside at night and from outside during the day.
Those sleeping on the ground floor managed to escape more quickly compared to students on the upper floor, who struggled through smoke and congestion while trying to access exits.
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Her mother said that her daughter went back to school on Tuesday after she had been home for a week due to an illness.
She was shocked to learn later that her daughter’s school had been affected by the fire incident and that she was required to travel to Nakuru.
"It is a good national school; that's why I brought her here all the way from Samburu. As parents, we should talk to our children so that they are open when they are going through something. It should not have escalated this far. We have lost a young soul. May their parents find peace," she said.
In an interview with one of the parents, whose daughter (a Form Three student) survived the tragedy but who requested anonymity, the fire started in the middle of the dormitory that accommodates Form Three students, Grade 10 and Form 4 students.
The parent, according to an account by her daughter, revealed that the fire was started by a group of Form Three students who set a mattress on fire, before the sparks quickly spread throughout the dormitory.
"My daughter told me that a group of unruly Form Three Students, who were protesting alleged high-handedness of the school administration, set a mattress on fire, causing the fire that spread across the Stanford dormitory located in the Meline Waithera Block," said the parent.
"She explained that the fire started in a bed in the middle of the dormitory, before it quickly spread. Since her bed was located near the entrance, she was able to escape unhurt," he added.
"Since she was not able to run out through the door and the fire was spreading fast, she jumped through the window and she suffered injuries on the legs and hands," said the parent of the learner who was treated at the St Mary's Hospital and released.
Another survivor who was among the 69 learners rushed to St Joseph Rift Valley Hospital recalled that students had retired to bed after observing the school’s Saturday night programme as per the school’s culture on holidays, Wednesday being a Muslim holiday- Eid ul-Adha.
“We normally go to bed at 9pm. After freshening up, everyone went to sleep. At around midnight, someone in the Stanford dorm shouted that everyone should leave the dorm as it was on fire,” she said, adding that it sent the students into panic and confusion mode as none of them knew what to do.
According to the student, panic quickly spread through the dormitory as smoke and flames engulfed evacuation routes.
“By the time I was leaving my cube, the fire had already covered the pathway between Cube 6 and Cube 7, which was the route we were supposed to use to evacuate,” she recalled.
She noted that the thick smoke made it impossible for some students to escape through the hallway, forcing them back into their rooms.
“The smoke became too much, and some of my cubemates started suffocating. We had no option but to open the window and jump from the upper floor to the ground,” she said.
“I ended up breaking my hand and leg. After I fell, I could not feel my feet or my hands. I passed out and only came back to my senses at Gilgil Sub-County Hospital,” she stated.
She was later transferred to St Joseph Rift Valley Hospital, where doctors confirmed fractures after conducting X-rays.
“I am in so much pain right now psychologically, mentally, and physically. I cannot say I am okay because nothing like this has ever happened to me before,” she added.
By Mercy Koskei, Leleti Jassor and Eric Matara
