Utumishi Girls Academy fire tragedy: Murkomen, DCI boss Amin arrive at school
By Aloys Michael, May 28, 2026Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Director Mohamed Amin have arrived at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil following a tragic dormitory fire at the school.
Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba also joined them at the institution.
The senior government officials convened with emergency response teams already on the ground as investigations into the incident continue.
Authorities are working to establish the cause of the fire, which broke out at 3:30 am on Thursday, May 28, 2026, while also assessing the condition of the students affected.
Further updates are expected as the response and investigations progress.
Several students were also injured in the incident and were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment, according to police.
In a press briefing on Thursday, May 28, 2026, the Principal Assistant to the DIG Masoud Mwinyi says he cannot give exact statistics on the injuries and deaths because the numbers need to be verified.
According to Mwinyi, most of the students who were rushed to the hospital suffered soft tissue injuries, while others were in shock and traumatised.
“We had an incident in the school. It is something we are trying to work on. Many things are happening at the same time, and one of the big issues we are trying to address is the issue of speculation and misinformation because when such an incident happens, we have opinions, people will try to guess issues, and they can even have make up stories,” he said.
“What we would like to tell the parents and the nationis that it is an issue that we have immediately swung into an investigation.”
According to Mwinyi, more than 50 police officers are combing the neighbourhood in search of students believed to have managed to get out of the school compound after the fire broke out.
“As we speak, a team of about 50 officers are combing the area. We cannot verify until we have numbers. We have a good number of students.
He said that the scene has been cordoned off, as a team of detectives from DCI and the Forensic department has been dispatched to assess the situation and conduct investigations.