DNA testing will begin today to identify the bodies of children who died in a fire at a Kenyan boarding school, local authorities have said.

At least 21 children, with an average age of nine, are believed to have died, with one official telling journalists some of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

The fire broke out in a dormitory housing 156 boys at the Hillside Endarasha Academy around 23:00 local time on Thursday. Firefighters were delayed by bad roads, but people living nearby rushed to help with rescue efforts.

Officials say 17 children remain unaccounted for – with some parents and relatives camping at the school to demand answers.

Government officials have called on those who helped rescue students to bring the children back to the school to help with tracing.

The Red Cross have set up a tracing desk and are offering support to those affected.

Cause still unknown.

Investigators should “assess whether or not the tragedy may have resulted from negligence and/or recklessness”, the chief prosecutor said in a statement.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga said the tragedy “evokes bad memories of other similar school fire incidents” that many times pointed to a failure to comply with safety standards.

It “is a catastrophe beyond our imagination”, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said at the school on Saturday. “It is truly devastating for the nation to lose such a number of young and promising Kenyans. Our hearts are heavy.”

Mwaura urged the media to not “rush to make conclusions about the numbers” of dead as DNA testing would take days.

On Saturday, criminal investigators and government pathologists sealed off the site for analysis.

President William Ruto has declared a three-day national mourning period to start today (Monday).

More than 150 pupils were in the dormitory when it caught fire at around midnight local time. The average age of the victims was about nine years old, according to the police.

The bodies were still in the ruined building when parents were taken to see them later in the day, many burnt beyond recognition.

The sight of the charred remains deepened the horror that they felt. One man had to be supported as he slowly walked back, while a number of women covered their eyes with their shawls and sobbed.

Another woman flailed around wildly, almost as if possessed by grief.

There have been a number of incidents of fires at Kenyan boarding schools in recent years, prompting national concerns about safety standards.

In 2022, a dormitory in western Kenya burnt down, with several students later arrested on suspicion of arson.

In 2017, 10 students died in an arson attack at Moi Girls High School in the capital Nairobi.

At least 67 students died in Machakos county, south-east of Nairobi, in the deadliest Kenyan school arson that took place more than 20 years ago.

A report released four years ago warned that many secondary schools in Kenya were not well prepared to respond to fires and didn’t adhere to government safety standards.

The report by the country’s auditor general revealed that many schools lacked proper equipment to handle fire outbreaks and were not constructed in accordance with required safety standards.

The blaze spread very fast as most of the buildings in the school were made of timber, according to a journalist from Citizen TV, a local TV station.

Local official Samson Mwangi Mwema told the BBC the rescue operation was difficult, saying: “We found the dormitory had caught fire, we tried to rescue – we found some children under the bed and we were able to rescue them.”

                                                                                             – BBC