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Monday, January 20, 2025

DNA testing to begin to identify Kenyan pupils killed in blaze

By Jonathan Paoli

The Kenyan Education authorities are preparing to initiate DNA testing in order to assist the identification of the 21 victims of a school dormitory fire last week.

The laboratory testing is set to begin on Monday and aid in identifying the 21 boys who lost their lives in the deadly blaze at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county in central Kenya as they were sleeping late on Thursday night.

Kenyan government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura confirmed over the weekend that 19 bodies were found in the charred ruins of the building, while another two died in hospital. A total of 17 are unaccounted for.

Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murigu told international news agencies that the bodies of the youngsters, aged between 9 and 13, were burnt beyond recognition. The families of the victims have been forced to wait to find out the fate of their lost loved ones.

“We are urging the affected families to turn up tomorrow at the Naromoru hospital to be part of the next process of forensic identification of the remains from this tragedy,” he said.

Post-mortems start on Tuesday.

Kenyan President William Ruto declared a three-day period of mourning on Friday to honour the victims. Flags are flying at half-mast on all Kenyan public buildings, military bases and embassies until Wednesday.

“This incident compels us to ensure accountability in all schools across the country and to take every action we can to safeguard the lives of our school-going children,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Saturday night, another fire broke out at Isiolo Girls High School, also in central Kenya, and a fire destroyed a dormitory at Njia Boys High School in the central county of Meru as students were having supper on Sunday. No deaths of injuries were reported.

NGOs and other organisations have highlighted the issue of safety at schools in Kenya, following numerous similar incidents over the years, many of them deadly.

INSIDE EDUCATION

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