Written by Mohamed Ragab
A court in the Kenyan city of Naivasha ordered nine students to be detained for 21 days in a children's home, on suspicion of their involvement in planning and carrying out a deadly fire inside a girls' boarding school that killed 16 students and sparked widespread shock across the country.
The court's decision was intended to give investigators more time to complete their criminal and technical investigations and determine whether formal charges would be brought against the suspected students. Authorities had requested a 30-day detention period, but the court granted only 21 days to allow for further investigation.
A tragic fire broke out inside a dormitory housing more than 200 female students.
The fire broke out in the early hours of May 28th in the dormitory of the Otomishi Girls' School in Gilgel, about 90 kilometers west of Nairobi. The building housed more than 200 students at the time of the blaze, resulting in 16 deaths and dozens of injuries.
According to investigators, the students faced great difficulty in escaping the fire after one of the emergency exits could not be opened, forcing everyone to use only one exit during the panic that accompanied the spread of the flames.
CCTV footage leads to the suspects
Initial investigations revealed that authorities were able to identify the suspects after questioning several students and reviewing CCTV footage from inside the school. The footage showed a group of students moving near the dormitory exit just before the fire broke out.
The investigation also revealed that the fire started after a mattress was ignited near the residence's exit using matches and paraffin wax, in what is suspected to be an act of arson. Authorities have yet to disclose the motive behind the incident, which has shocked the Kenyan public.
Calls for a thorough investigation and justice for the victims
Lawyers representing the victims' families welcomed the court's decision, calling for a thorough investigation to uncover all the circumstances of the disaster and determine legal responsibility. The families are also awaiting the results of DNA tests to identify some of the bodies, which were severely charred in the fire.
This tragedy once again highlights the issue of safety within Kenyan schools, especially after a series of fires that have occurred in educational institutions in recent years, which has revived the debate about security standards and preventive measures within boarding schools in the country.
