Nairobi, KenyaReuters —
Kenyan authorities have arrested eight students on suspicion of arson over a fire at a girls’ boarding school that killed 16 students, police said on Friday.
The fire at the Utumishi Girls’ Academy Senior School in Gilgil in west-central Kenya broke out in the early hours of Thursday and also injured 79 students.
Fires are common at Kenyan schools, with many set by students protesting harsh discipline and poor conditions, researchers have found.
“Preliminary investigations have identified eight students as persons of interest in connection with the planning and execution of the suspected arson attack,” the police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement.
