Kenya's Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua told reporters at the scene of the tragedy on Friday that 70 youngsters were still unaccounted for.
ENDARASHA - Families of children at a Kenyan primary school where a dormitory blaze killed 17 boys were facing an anguished wait Saturday for news of their missing loved ones.
President William Ruto declared three days of national mourning starting from Monday after what he described as an"unfathomable tragedy". "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."
"The bodies recovered at the scene were burnt beyond recognition," national police spokesperson Resila Onyango told AFP.On Friday, tensions were running high among families gathered at the school as they anxiously awaited news of the missing."Please look for my kid. He can't be dead. I want my child," one woman cried in distress as she left the school.
The Kenyan Red Cross said it was on the ground assisting a multi-agency response team and providing psychosocial support. The school, which caters to some 800 children, is located in a semi-rural area around 170 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi.In 2016, nine students were killed by a fire at a girls' high school in the sprawling slum neighbourhood of Kibera in Nairobi.
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