Endarasha Academy: Details Show School Fire Was Caused After Bulb Exploded, Burnt Mattress

• A survivor learner at Hillside Endarasha Academy has shared the horror they encountered as the fire started inside their dormitory
• The pupil said they had retired to their bedding when a bulb exploded, the sparkles starting fire on a mattress
• It spread throughout the bed and the adjoining ones, the pupils' efforts to put the fire out using water proving futile

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nyeri County — Fresh details have revealed that a faulty bulb might have caused the tragic fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy.

The tragedy has claimed at least 21 lives as of Saturday evening, September 7.

How Endarasha Adacemy fire started

A survivor learner said the fire started after a bulb exploded and lit the mattress under it.

The bedding in the pinnacle of a double-decker bed was lit after the sparkles from the exploded bulb scattered on it.

One of the pupils ran out to fetch water to put out the fire but did not get it.

He came back and found the fire spreading, prompting him to call other pupils and the matron to help extinguish it, but it was too late.

"One of the children was sleeping at the top when a bulb that was facing him exploded, and the sparkles lit his bedding. The pupil went to look for water but did not get it. He returned and found the fire spreading. He woke up about three others to help him but it was already out of hand. They then went for the matron who came and found the fire had gutted the entire dormitory," the pupi said as narrated by his parent.

The survivor and the others managed to escape using a door adjacent to another dormitory used by Grade 8 learners.

Video; courtesy

It later emerged that the bodies were found stacked in the doorway as the responders appeared to move the bodies from the dormitory to an open field.

The deceased, averagely aged 9, were burnt beyond recognition.

The door out of the dormitory had been overcrowded by the students who strived to find their way to safety.

Meanwhile, President William Ruto has declared three days of mourning, with the Kenyan and the East African Community (EAC) flags expected to fly at half-mast at all public institutions, military bases, and Kenyan diplomatic missions worldwide

All about Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy

• The National Police spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed that the fire broke out in a dormitory within the school.
• In its statement later, the Ministry of Education confirmed that the ill-fated dormitory had housed 156 male learners.
• The police said 16 learners perished at the scene, with two others succumbing to the burn injuries while in hospital.
• President William Ruto ordered the Ministry of Interior to undertake a thorough probe to establish the cause of the fire

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

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DCI investigators at Endarasha Academy.

In Pictures: Inside the Endarasha Academy fire that killed 17 students

In Pictures: Inside the Endarasha Academy fire that killed 17 students