The Utumishi Girls’ Academy fire did not happen in isolation. It happened in a pattern. Kenya has been burying children in dormitory fires for 25 years, and the same structural failures keep signing the death certificates.
At approximately 1 am on Thursday, May 28, 2026, a fire broke out in the Meline Waithera Block dormitory at Utumishi Girls’ Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County. The block housed more than 200 students.
The Kenya Red Cross recorded the fire report at 3:30 am, two and a half hours after ignition.
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