Why police probe into Endarasha school fire will take long

Parents at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county on September 6, 2024 after fire broke out killing 21 students. [AFP]

Investigations into the Hillside Endarasha Academy fire tragedy could take longer than expected, police have said.

The September 6 incident claimed the lives of 21 pupils according of official records, who were among learners boarding at the institution in Kieni Constituency, Nyeri County.

Central Region Criminal Investigations Officer Abraham Mugambi yesterday told The Standard that it was still early for the police to name any suspects. “Investigations are a process and they take time so it would be too early to name any suspects,” he said.

Mugambi said they are yet to interview key victims and suspects owing to the traumatic nature of the incident. He said the victims were receiving psycho-social care before the police could move in and start interviewing them.

The police boss refuted claims circulating on social media that 70 children are still unaccounted for, saying no child is missing.

These claims were peddled by X users after an address by Deputy Rigathi Gachagua who claimed 70 children were unaccounted for on the day of the incident.

Mr Mugambi said only 17 children had not been traced adding that police with the help of the school management traced them to their homes after they were picked up by their parents.

The owner and director of the school David Kinyua has been interviewed by police together with several teachers, the matron, and the guard who was on duty.

This comes as the post-mortem examination of the bodies took place yesterday at Naromoru Level 4 Hospital in an exercise led by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor.

Already DNA samples had been collected from families of the victims to match them to the remains on Tuesday, September 10, while it emerged that parents who lost their children will have to wait for more than a month to bury them.

Mugambi said police had engaged other government agencies like the National Construction Authority, Energy Regulatory and Petroleum Agency, and the State Department of Public Works among others in probing the incident.

Already, Kenya Power has absolved itself of any blame for the incident with its acting regional manager Dancun Machuka saying once they learnt of the incident the Nyeri team switched off the power supply.

Eastern Regional Commissioner Paul Rotich said criminal charges will be preferred against anyone found at fault for the incident. “We are not focusing only on one line of the investigation.”

He said police were conducting broad investigations to ascertain what happened and what could have been done to prevent the tragedy.

Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga had in a September 7 letter asked the DCI to probe the matter and forward the file to his office.

“The DPP assures the public that any person found culpable towards the fire tragedy shall be expediently taken through the due process of a criminal trial,” said Ingonga.

There are a host of questions government is yet to answer on the tragedy. Among the key questions is what caused the fire?

Secondly, is whether the dormitory door and the emergency exit were locked from the outside, and if yes, by whom? Also, what kind of emergency measures were in place?
Lastly, who was to be on duty that night, and what the first responders could have done to avert loss of lives?

Politicians have already pronounced themselves on the incident, with Kieni MP Njoroge Wainaina and his Kiharu counterpart Ndindi Nyoro pledging to support the school to resume learning.

Nyoro gave Sh500,000 while Wainaina asked his CDF board to help repair the damaged dormitory, claiming the works should not take more than 21 days. The leaders were attending an interdenominational prayer service for the inferno victims.

Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga said the school should be re-opened ahead of the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (Kapsea) exams set for October.