At around 10 pm Thursday, a huge fire swept through a dormitory housing 156 male pupils at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri.
At this particular time, children who were trapped inside the building were desperately struggling to get out of the building.
With everyone in the neighbourhood asleep, only prayers and songs from congregants who had gathered for a crusade at a nearby Full Gospel church dominated the air.
The event began Wednesday and was to end Friday.
God's hand seemed evident.
A few attendees who had stepped outside for fresh air noticed a thick smoke and the glow of fire from the school.
Realising the gravity of the situation, they quickly alerted others and mobilised a response.
One of the first responders who did not want to be mentioned said they could hear desperate screams of trapped children echoing from inside.
He described the scene as chaotic.
"We could hear the children’s cries, we knew things were bad and we had to do something urgently to save them as there was no emergency service at that time," he said.
This, he narrated, forced them to scale the fence to try and control the fire.
They succeeded in rescuing some.
After almost an hour, the fire brigade from the county arrived and managed to put out the fire.
Other parents who were among those who responded were denied entry at the gate by security officers who had already arrived as rescue efforts continued.
Calls were being made far and wide with those as far away as Nairobi being forced to travel to the school in the night.
Efforts to contact the management to inquire about the incident did not bear any fruits and "I had to rush to the school", said another parent.
While the exact cause has yet to be established, several reports from survivors point to an electric fault.
One of the pupils who survived and gave us an account of the last moments before the fire said one of the bulb emitted an unusual red light but they ignored it.
The lights, according to him, are always left on.
As a strict routine, we are told, that pupils here sleep at 10pm and wake up by 4:30 am to prepare for the morning prep.
