Endarasha, Kenya   -   At least 17 young children were killed in a fire that ripped through their primary school dormitory in central Kenya overnight, with initial reports Friday indicating it was overcrowded in breach of safety standards. The blaze in Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county broke out at around midnight, police said, engulfing rooms where more than 150 children were sleeping.

Police said the average age of the victims was around nine years old.

“There are 17 fatalities from this incident and there are also others who were taken to hospital with serious injuries,” national police spokesperson Resila Onyango told AFP. “The bodies recovered at the scene were burnt beyond recognition,” she said.

“More bodies are likely to be recovered once (the) scene is fully processed,” she added.

Kenya’s Citizen TV showed images of what appeared to be the aftermath of the blaze, with blackened corrugated iron roofing that had collapsed in on itself. The cause of the fire was not yet known.

But Kenya’s National Gender and Equality Commission said initial reports indicated the dormitory was “overcrowded, in violation of safety standards” and called for an immediate inquiry.  President William Ruto, currently in Bejing for a China-Africa summit, expressed his condolences in a post on X.  “Our thoughts are with the families of the children who have lost their lives in the fire tragedy,” he said.

“This is devastating news.”

Ruto instructed officials to “thoroughly investigate this horrific incident”, and promised that those responsible will be “held to account”.

The school, which caters for about 800 pupils, is located in a semi-rural area around 170 kilometres (100 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.

Around 100 parents were gathered outside the gates of the school, an AFP journalist at the scene reported, anxiously waiting for updates on their children.

The dormitory was sealed off by yellow police tape, with officers stationed at all access points.

- ‘Heartbreaking’ -

The Kenyan Red Cross said it was on the ground assisting a multi-agency response team. In a post on X, it said it was “providing psychosocial support services to the pupils, teachers and affected families”.

“Heartbreaking news from Kenya as a school fire has caused devastation. Our thoughts are with all affected,” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. There have been numerous school fires in Kenya and across East Africa.