School fire tragedies in Kenya over the years

A stark timeline of school fire disasters highlights a recurring safety crisis in Kenyan learning institutions over nearly three decades.

According to documented historical records up to May 2026, the country has suffered numerous fatal dormitory fires, with the most recent tragedy occurring on May 28, 2026, at Utumishi Girls Academy in Nakuru, where 16 girls lost their lives.

The deadly pattern dates back to 1998, when a fire at Bombolulu Girls’ Secondary School claimed the lives of 26 girls.

Just a year later, in 1999, an incident at Nyeri High School resulted in four prefects being burnt to death. The turn of the century brought the deadliest school fire on record in 2001, when 67 boys died in a horrific blaze at Kyunguli Secondary School.

Subsequent years have seen little respite from these fatal incidents. In 2010, a fire at Endarasha Boys’ Secondary School killed two boys. Two years later, in 2012, Asumbi Girls’ Primary School lost eight girls to a dormitory fire.

The year 2017 was particularly devastating, witnessing two separate major tragedies: a fire at Kabarnet High School that left 10 boys dead, and another at Moi Girls’ Nairobi that claimed the lives of 10 girls.

More recently, in 2024, Hillside Endarasha Academy suffered a catastrophic blaze that left 21 people dead, serving as a grim prelude to the recent Nakuru disaster.