Eight girls arrested on suspicion of arson after Kenya school fire

The fire broke out at the Utumishi Girls Academy Senior School in Gilgil, killing 16 people and wounding 79 others.At least eight students have been arrested on suspicion of arson after fire at a boarding school for girls in Kenya killed 16 students and injured 79, police said.The fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday at the Utumishi Girls Academy Senior School in Gilgil, west-central Kenya.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3At least 16 students killed in fire at Kenya girls school dormlist 2 of 3Four reported killed, 30 injured, in Kenyan fuel price protestslist 3 of 3Kenyan court suspends US Ebola quarantine facility planend of listOn Friday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation said preliminary investigations had identified eight people as “persons of interest in connection with the planning and execution of the suspected arson attack”.“The eight girls have since been arrested and are currently in police custody,” the statement added.Reporting from the school, Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi said police are still investigating potential arson.“We have been speaking to parents who have been here since the early morning, they were very frustrated earlier because nobody was giving them information,” she said.“We have parents who say they haven’t seen their children at all – I guess those are the ones, the students [who] died – and then we have parents of whose loved ones, the students, are still inside being interrogated,” Soi added.Relatives wait for news at the Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, following Thursday’s fire, May 28, 2026 [AFP]Student Hilda Njeri, who was in one of the dorms most-affected by the fire, told Al Jazeera she was still dealing with everything that happened.“I was badly injured on my leg, and my lower back was badly injured,” Njeri said outside the school on Friday, adding that the principal took the students to hospital and paid all bills for treatment.