Eight college students suspected of being concerned in an arson assault that killed 16 college students at a ladies’ college in Kenya have been arrested, police introduced.
A hearth broke out early Thursday on the Utumisi Women’ Academy in Gilgil, about 120 kilometers (77 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, destroying the higher flooring of the dormitory, which contained 135 bunk beds.
The Nationwide Police Company stated in an announcement that eight college students on the college had been recognized as “individuals of curiosity concerned within the planning and execution” of the fireplace, after interviews with college students and workers and a forensic overview of surveillance digital camera footage.
Investigations into the precise explanation for the fireplace proceed.
Police stated the scholars had been tracked dwelling and brought again to highschool earlier than being detained for questioning, whereas different college students who remained within the space had been additionally tracked and detained.
The eight had been amongst 30 college students initially tracked down and known as again to highschool by detectives investigating the fireplace.
As investigators continued their investigation, unhappy scenes unfolded on the college, with dad and mom and family breaking down in tears as they waited for the most recent data on their family members. Safety was stepped up across the facility as crowds gathered demanding swift motion and accountability for the incident.
Njuki Ntimba, who’s trying to find her niece, advised the BBC on Friday morning: “We arrived on the college at 7 o’clock and three hours later we nonetheless haven’t any data.”
“Some cops got here from the college and requested the dad and mom to divide themselves into three teams. Group 1 had been the dad and mom whose kids had been arrested in reference to the incident, Group 2 had been the dad and mom whose kids had died, and Group 3 had been the dad and mom who didn’t know the place their kids had been.
“I’ve given my niece’s title and I’m now ready for details about her.”
Samuel Guichua got here to the college on the lookout for his sister.
“I do not know the place my sister is. I hear a number of the kids are within the hospital, some within the mortuary… Our mom died after we had been younger, so I have been caring for her like a father and mom. She was my baby,” he added.
Kenya has an extended historical past of faculty fires, and simply two years in the past not less than 21 folks had been killed in a dormitory hearth in central Kenya.
Lots of the fires reported at boarding colleges are the results of arson, with college students dissatisfied with self-discipline and residing circumstances being held accountable, however some fires are brought on by accidents.
Overcrowding in dormitories and failure to comply with security pointers, similar to leaving exits open and unlocking home windows, have usually been blamed for the big variety of casualties.
