Thirteen students sustained injuries after two dormitories burned down at Katoloni secondary school in Machakos county.

Machakos County Police Commander Patrick Lobolia said the injuries resulted from a stampede as the students scampered to safety when the fire broke out minutes after 9pm, on Saturday.

"The thirteen students were rushed to Machakos Level 5 hospital where they were all treated and discharged. They sustained minor injuries due to stampede while others fainted after inhaling smoke," Lobolia told the Star on Sunday.

He said all students were in classrooms for night studies when the fire broke.

"Nobody was in the dormitories, all students were in classrooms where they got scared after an alarm was raised that the school was on fire leading to the stamped as they scampered to safety," Lobolia said.

The fire was reportedly contained at about 10.50pm.

Students lost their personal effects like clothes, books, beddings, boxes, among others.

Lobolia said the cause of inferno was yet to be established.

He added that have launched investigations into the incident.

The police chief said all students had been accounted for and normalcy restored.

The police commander said members of the public attempted to get into the compound prompting his officers to respond by securing the institution before criminals took advantage of the situation to either loot property or harm students.

He said police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the surging crowds who attempted to storm the school at night.

"It's a mixed day and boarding secondary school located a few metres from the Katoloni shopping centre. Members of the public including suspicious characters who were drunk from clubs attempted to storm the school prompting us to hurl teargas canisters at them," Lobolia said.

Lobolia said the crowd had blocked the school entrance thereby interfering with emergency services in and out of the institution.