At least 17 children have died after a fire tore through a primary school dormitory in central Kenya, officials say.
The blaze broke out around midnight at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county, engulfing rooms where more than 150 pupils were sleeping.
Police said the average age of the victims was about nine.
“There are 17 fatalities from this incident and there are also others who were taken to hospital with serious injuries,” national police spokesperson Resila Onyango told AFP news agency.
She added: “The bodies recovered at the scene were burnt beyond recognition. More bodies are likely to be recovered once [the] scene is fully processed.”
Kenya’s National Gender and Equality Commission said initial reports indicated the dormitory was “overcrowded, in violation of safety standards” and called for an immediate inquiry.
President William Ruto, currently in Beijing for a China-Africa summit, expressed his condolences on social media platform X.
“Our thoughts are with the families of the children who have lost their lives in the fire tragedy,” he said. “This is devastating news.”
Mr Ruto instructed officials to “thoroughly investigate this horrific incident” and promised that those responsible would be “held to account”.
The school, which caters for about 800 pupils, is located in a semi-rural area around 170km (100 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.
Around 100 parents gathered outside the school gates, anxiously waiting for updates on their children.
The Kenyan Red Cross said it was providing psychosocial support to pupils, teachers and affected families.
Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said: “Heartbreaking news from Kenya as a school fire has caused devastation. Our thoughts are with all affected.”
There have been numerous school fires in Kenya and across East Africa in recent years.
In 2016, nine students were killed by a fire at a girls’ high school in Nairobi’s Kibera slum.
In 2001, 67 pupils died in an arson attack on their dormitory at Kyanguli Mixed Secondary School in Kenya’s southern Machakos district.
