A devastating overnight fire tore through a dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County, Kenya, killing at least 16 teenage girls and injuring dozens more as hundreds of students slept inside the building. Authorities said the dormitory housed approximately 220 girls between the ages of 15 and 17 when the blaze erupted around 1:00 a.m., quickly engulfing large sections of the structure in flames and thick smoke before emergency crews could fully contain the disaster.

Chaotic video footage from the scene captured the horrifying scale of the inferno, showing the building consumed by towering flames as silhouetted bystanders and responders gathered outside in the darkness with flashlights and emergency lights. Kenyan officials confirmed that between 74 and 79 additional students were hospitalized with injuries ranging from burns to smoke inhalation, while rescue workers and investigators continued combing through the wreckage following one of the country’s deadliest school fire tragedies in recent years.

The cause of the fire remains under active investigation, with public anger rapidly growing over boarding school safety conditions and emergency preparedness standards across Kenya. Education officials and grieving families are now demanding answers about how such a catastrophic fire could spread so rapidly through a crowded student dormitory, reigniting national concerns over infrastructure safety, evacuation readiness, and protections for children living in residential school facilities.