A sombre mood has gripped the community surrounding Hillside Endarasha Academy, as efforts to find and identify bodies of dead students continue.

However, the government and humanitarian agencies continue the search for students as Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua revealed that 70 students are still unaccounted for following a devastating fire.

The inferno, which swept through the school’s dormitory in Nyeri, Central Kenya, has left families and authorities scrambling for answers.

“We still cannot account for 70 pupils,” Gachagua stated, emphasising that this figure did not represent casualties but children who may have been taken home by parents or those still lost in the chaos.

The administration block of Hillside Boarding school where 17 pupils lost their lives. 

He urged parents and local residents to report any children who were taken from the scene during the confusion. “I am appealing to each and every parent who took their child to report to us so that we know where those children are,” he added.

The fire, which broke out in the early hours of Friday, claimed the lives of 17 boys.

Deputy President Gachagua confirmed that one student succumbed to injuries in hospital, increasing the death toll to 18.

The academy, a boarding school for young boys and girls, housed 311 boarding students at the time of the fire. Of these, 156 were boys, all of whom were inside the dormitory when the fire broke out.

According to Gachagua, the government can account for 86 students, with 27 pupils currently hospitalised with injuries, and 37 others have been located with their parents.

Despite this, the whereabouts of the remaining 70 students remains unknown, leaving families desperate for news.

As the nation reels from this tragedy, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura confirmed that a multi-agency investigation has been launched. "We are working with the Ministry of Education, Interior, and security agencies to determine the cause of this fire," Mwaura stated. He assured the public that the government would leave no stone unturned in establishing what led to the disaster.

Local resident Phillip Gathogo was one of the first on the scene and recounted the harrowing events. “We saw several children in there that had been burnt,” he said, visibly shaken. “I was just lucky to save one of them, but I heard that he later died. It was a very troubling and sad tragedy."

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki visited the site and pledged accountability for anyone found responsible. "The government assures full accountability for all whose action or inaction contributed to this tremendous loss," he asserted.

Kindiki also urged any local residents who may have taken in children to return them to the school so they could receive medical care and counselling. "Many children managed to jump out and get to safety, but we do not know how many were successful," he remarked.

Kenya has a grim history of fatal school fires. In 2017, nine students were killed in a dormitory fire at a Nairobi school, which was later attributed to arson. The most tragic incident occurred in 2001, when 58 students perished in a dormitory blaze at Kyanguli Secondary School.