Kenyan police to begin DNA testing to identify victims of boarding school fire
Inquiry ramps up into blaze that killed 17 boys in dormitory, as president declares three days of national mourning
Kenyan police stepped up their investigation on Saturday into a fire at a boarding school that killed 17 boys, as the president announced three days of national mourning.
Detectives said DNA testing was due to begin to identify the remains of the children who died in the blaze.
Kenya’s vice-president, Rigathi Gachagua, said on Friday that 70 youngsters were still unaccounted for after the fire broke out at Hillside Endarasha academy in Nyeri county, central Kenya, at about midnight on Thursday.
The flames engulfed a dormitory at the primary school, where more than 150 boys were sleeping.
The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but homicide investigators and forensic experts were at the school on Saturday, while media were barred from the site.
The bodies of victims, which police had said were burnt beyond recognition, were still in the dormitory, now a blackened shell with its corrugated iron roof completely collapsed.
Kenya’s chief homicide detective, Martin Nyuguto, said at the scene: “Today we want to begin the process of DNA testing.”
The president, William Ruto, declared three days of national mourning starting from Monday to honour the victims of what he described as an “unfathomable tragedy”. He said on Friday that 17 children had lost their lives, while 14 had sustained injuries and were being treated in hospital.
“I pledge that the difficult questions that have been asked such as how this tragedy occurred and why the response was not timely will be answered; fully, frankly, and without fear or favour. All relevant persons and bodies will be held to account,” Ruto said in a statement.
Kenyan police stepped up their investigation on Saturday into a fire at a boarding school that killed 17 boys, as the president announced three days of national mourning.
Detectives said DNA testing was due to begin to identify the remains of the children who died in the blaze.
Kenya’s vice-president, Rigathi Gachagua, said on Friday that 70 youngsters were still unaccounted for after the fire broke out at Hillside Endarasha academy in Nyeri county, central Kenya, at about midnight on Thursday.
The flames engulfed a dormitory at the primary school, where more than 150 boys were sleeping.
The cause of the blaze is not yet known, but homicide investigators and forensic experts were at the school on Saturday, while media were barred from the site.
The bodies of victims, which police had said were burnt beyond recognition, were still in the dormitory, now a blackened shell with its corrugated iron roof completely collapsed.
Kenya’s chief homicide detective, Martin Nyuguto, said at the scene: “Today we want to begin the process of DNA testing.”
The president, William Ruto, declared three days of national mourning starting from Monday to honour the victims of what he described as an “unfathomable tragedy”. He said on Friday that 17 children had lost their lives, while 14 had sustained injuries and were being treated in hospital.
“I pledge that the difficult questions that have been asked such as how this tragedy occurred and why the response was not timely will be answered; fully, frankly, and without fear or favour. All relevant persons and bodies will be held to account,” Ruto said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on The Guardian.