- Police said all the students’ valuables were burnt down during the drama.
- The dormitory accommodated 158 students and were all accounted for later on.
A section of residents of Isiolo town barricaded roads and stoned vehicles to protest over the alleged lack of a working fire engine.
This was after a dormitory at the Isiolo Girls went up in flames burning down valuables belonging to 158 students.
The incident happened Saturday, September 7 at about 7 pm.
The head teacher Florence Achacha reported the dormitory nicknamed Dekha was on fire prompting a response from the locals and students.
Fire engines from the Kenya Defence Forces and Kenya Airports Authority came to the rescue of the situation and contained the fire.
Police said all the students’ valuables were burnt down during the drama.
The dormitory accommodated 158 students who were all accounted for later on.
It was then that locals turned violent and blocked the main road to the school protesting the failure by the fire engine from the local adminstration to respond.
The protesters, according to police, stoned motorists and in the process damaged the KDF and KAA engines and two police vehicles.
Police used tear gas canisters to disperse the group from the scene.
In a statement about the fire tragedy, Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo said:
"I am deeply saddened by the unfortunate fire incident at Isiolo Girls tonight. My government is working tirelessly to mobilize all necessary emergency responders to the scene, even as I urge the security team to establish the cause.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the students, staff and parents. I urge everyone to exercise extreme caution while supporting our emergency teams."
The fire incident caused panic among many parents given it came days after another one at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Kieni, Nyeri County killed 21 pupils and left 25 others with serious burns.
Police spokesperson Dr Resla Onyango said there were no casualties so far reported.
She said locals joined in the fight to control and contain the spread of the fire.
She added investigators will tell the cause of the fire.
“The fire was contained and experts are at the scene for investigations and other procedures,” she said adding the process of accounting all the students was completed.
On the Endarasha incident, Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said a total of 19 bodies had been recovered at the site and another two died in hospital.
Out of the total 156 boys in the dorm at the time, 135 had now been accounted for, either at home or in hospital, he said.
"It is a catastrophe beyond our imagination," Mwaura said at a press briefing at the site.
"It is truly devastating for the nation to lose such a number of young and promising Kenyans. Our hearts are heavy."
The cause of the inferno is not yet known but homicide investigators and forensic experts are at the school, where media access has been blocked.
The charred bodies of victims, which police had said were burnt beyond recognition, were found in the dormitory, now a blackened shell with its corrugated iron roof completely collapsed.
Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor said postmortems will begin on Tuesday.
Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga instructed police to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the fire and "assess whether or not the tragedy may have resulted from negligence and/or recklessness of any responsibility holders," his office said in a statement.
"Any person found culpable towards the fire tragedy shall be expediently taken through the due process of a criminal trial."