By Grace Gilo
The Cabinet Secretary for Interior Affairs has stated that the government is now able to account for all students affected by the fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy.
Additionally, he stated that At Naro Moru Level 4 Hospital, the process of DNA matching with the remains of the students who perished in the incident is set to begin following the completion of the postmortem examinations conducted today.
“As we continue to mourn our children whose lives were lost in the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire last week, investigations to establish the cause of the fire are at an advanced stage,” said the Interior CS.
Once the identification of the deceased and DNA matching are finalized, the bodies will be released to their families for final rites.
At the time of the fire, the school had an enrollment of 843 students, including 330 boarders: 164 boys and 166 girls.
Among the 164 boys residing in the dormitory that was engulfed in flames, 143 have survived whereby 140 are with their families and 3 are hospitalized.
Tragically, 21 boys lost their lives in this incident.
“The Government can now account for all the pupils of the affected school. The School enrollment at the time of the fire tragedy was 843, out of which 330 were boarders: 164 boys and 166 girls. Of the 164 boys who were in the boys’ dormitory that burnt down, 143 are alive (140 with their parents and 3 in hospital). Most unfortunately, 21 boys lost their lives,” Kindiki remarked.
CS Kindiki expressed gratitude to all agencies and individuals involved in the response to this disaster, including the DCI Homicide and Forensics teams, the Government Pathologist team, personnel from the Government Chemist Department, security forces, national Government administration officers, the Kenya Red Cross and the County Government of Nyeri, for their well-coordinated efforts.
At the Naro Moru Level 4 Hospital Mortuary, a multi-agency briefing was held to discuss the progress made, and the officers and staff from various agencies involved in the response to this national tragedy were encouraged.