The Greatest Blunder Utumishi Girls' Matron Did Before The Death Of 16 Students Has Been Revealed

Sixteen students perished and 74 others were injured when fire ripped through the Meline Waithera Block dormitory at Utumishi Girls Secondary School in Gilgil, Nakuru County, in the early hours of Thursday.

The dormitory, housing approximately 220 students from Grade 10, Form 3, and Form 4, was fully engulfed in flames when police and emergency responders arrived at the scene around 4:30 a.m., after the school principal, Joycelene Muraguri, raised the alarm.

Fire engines from Naivasha, alongside personnel from the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Youth Service, the Kenya Forest Service, and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, worked to contain the blaze. 

Injured students are receiving treatment at Gilgil Subcounty Hospital and St Mark’s Hospital.

Amid ongoing investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, relatives of affected students have raised troubling claims. 

One family member alleged that the dormitory matron opened only one exit door while another remained locked during the evacuation. 

"If both exits had been opened in time, more students could have escaped safely," she said. She also questioned why only one matron was on duty.

A senior police official attached to the Deputy Inspector General's office urged the public to avoid spreading unverified information on social media. 

Authorities have confirmed that investigations into the cause of the fire, which remains unknown, are continuing.