President William Ruto has declared three days of national mourning after 17 children perished in a night fire which razed their dormitory on Thursday night.
Ruto has said the tragic fire which happened at the Hillside Endarasha primary school in Kieni West constituency, Nyeri County had injured 14 other boys who were receiving treatment in various hospitals.
“I, William Samoei Ruto, under the authority vested in me as President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, do hereby order and direct that, as a solemn testament to the indelible mark left upon the nation’s consciousness by the spirits of the seventeen departed children, Kenya shall observe a three-day period of national mourning,” Ruto said.
Adding: “During this period of national mourning, the flag of the Republic of Kenya and that of the East African Community(EAC) shall be flown at half-mast at State House, all Kenyan Diplomatic Missions, public buildings, public grounds, all milítary bases, posts, stations, all naval vessels of the Republic of Kenya, and throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Kenya, from dawn Monday, September 9, 2024, until sunset on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.”
Ruto said that the government would support the survivors in public hospitals even as investigations to determine the cause of the fire are ongoing.
Ruto on treatment cost
“I assure all the affected families that every public medical resource is at their disposal to ensure that all injured children receive the highest level of care. As your President, I pledge that the difficult questions that have been asked such as how this tragedy occurred and why the response was not timely will be answered; fully, frankly, and without fear or favour. All relevant persons and bodies will be held to account, and we shall do all that is required to ensure that, as far as possible, we shall never again find ourselves in the grips of such a tragedy,” Ruto said
According to Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, the school had an enrolment of 824 students while the boys’ dormitory which caught fire on the fateful night had a capacity of 156 boarders.
