Form Three student perish in dorm fire, five injured
A Form Three student was killed in a fire that left five others injured at Bahati PCEA Girls Secondary School in Nakuru.
Police were yesterday looking for clues for the cause of the fire that also reduced property and personal effects worth millions of shillings into ashes.
Nakuru County Police Commander Stephen Matu said a dormitory caught fire at around 6.30pm while students were in their evening preps. Nothing was salvaged.
Tears flowed freely after the management broke the news to students and parents who had flocked the school to check on their children. Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri also visited.
Of the five injured, three were treated and discharged while two others were still admitted. Hospital sources said they were in a stable condition.
No injuries
Meanwhile, Nakuru County police commander Stephen Matu said investigations to ascertain the cause of the fire had started, adding that the deceased had no physical injuries on her body.
“We don’t want to speculate but what I can tell you now is that she might have died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning,” he said, adding that a postmortem report will give a clearer picture.
Matu said investigators would also seek to establish why the student was in the dormitory while her colleagues were in class.
“One of the girls admitted is her friend. We will get her statement when she is discharged,” Matu said.
Other sources said the deceased appeared disturbed days before the tragedy. “She spoke of suicide and other terrible things but we thought she was joking,” said a student who did not want to be named.
Meanwhile, all the 53 pupils of Mkulima Primary School in Kuresoi North sub-county who were admitted after their school was struck by lightning last Thursday have been discharged. Three pupils were killed in the tragedy.
Head teacher Thomas Sisa said the pupils had just rushed back from their games break to seek shelter from heavy rains when the lightning struck.
Burial arrangements for the pupils who were killed were underway yesterday.
