A devastating fire at a boarding school in central Kenya has claimed the lives of 16 children, prompting British inspectors to call for urgent global safety standards for dormitories. The blaze, which broke out late Monday night at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County, also left dozens injured as pupils slept in overcrowded rooms with barred windows and no emergency exits.
According to survivors, the fire started in a dormitory housing boys aged nine to 15. Thick smoke and flames spread rapidly through the wooden structure, trapping many inside. Parents rushed to the school gates at dawn, only to be met with the charred remains of the building and the grim task of identifying bodies.
For British safety inspectors, this tragedy is a grim echo of past fires in low-income countries. They argue that the lack of basic fire precautions in dormitories is a global scandal that requires immediate action. "This is not an isolated incident," said Inspector Margaret Thorpe of the UK Fire Safety Commission. "We have seen similar disasters in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and now Kenya. Children are dying because of substandard building materials, locked fire exits, and absent sprinkler systems."
Thorpe and her colleagues are calling on the International Organisation for Standardisation to mandate minimum fire safety measures for all boarding schools worldwide. These would include smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, multiple unlocked exits, and regular drills. They also urge governments to enforce building codes and provide funding to retrofit old dormitories.
Kenyan authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, with early reports suggesting an electrical fault. President William Ruto declared three days of national mourning and promised to hold those responsible to account. But for families like that of 12-year-old Samuel Kamau, whose son perished in the blaze, promises ring hollow. "They said the school was safe," he whispered, clutching a singed school blazer. "Now I have no son."
The tragedy highlights a deeper inequality: while British schools have strict fire regulations and frequent inspections, many institutions in poorer nations operate with minimal oversight. The annual cost of upgrading a single dormitory to basic safety standards is estimated at £2,000, a sum beyond many Kenyan schools. Yet without action, the death toll will only rise.
As the sun set over Nyeri, grief gave way to anger. Teachers and parents alike demanded justice. British inspectors may push for global standards, but for those left behind, the only true reform is one that ensures no child ever dies in a fire that could have been prevented.
