DNA testing was due to begin on Monday in Kenya to identify the boys killed in last week’s school dormitory fire.
The Kenyan government also declared three days of mourning for the 21 young people who died in the horrific incident, which has raised fresh concerns about safety standards in Kenya’s schools.
Children were killed when a fire broke out in their dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County, central Kenya, while they were sleeping late on Thursday night.
Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said on Saturday that 19 bodies had been recovered from the rubble of burnt buildings and two more had died in hospital, while 17 people were still missing.
Police say the bodies of the boys, aged between nine and 13, were burned beyond recognition and their families are waiting in anguish to learn the fate of their loved ones.
“Forensic examination to identify the body will begin on Monday because that is the only way of identification,” Nyeri county mayor Pius Murigu told AFP on Sunday.
“We are calling on the affected families to come to Naromoru Hospital tomorrow to take part in the next process of forensic identification of the bodies from this tragedy,” he said, referring to the medical facility located about an hour’s drive from the school.
The government’s chief pathologist, Johansen Oduor, said the autopsy would begin on Tuesday.
President William Ruto declared a period of mourning on Friday to remember the victims of what he described as an “unfathomable tragedy”.
Flags will fly at half-mast at all public buildings, military bases and embassies in Kenya from dawn on Monday until dusk on Wednesday.
Governor Root has ordered a full investigation into the disaster.
“This case will force accountability in every school across the country and ensure they do everything they can to protect the lives of children who attend school,” he said Friday.
The Kenya Red Cross has set up a white tent in the square outside the gates of Endarasha school to provide psychological counselling sessions for traumatised children and their relatives.
The latest fire has highlighted safety issues in Kenya’s schools, following a string of similar incidents over the past few years, many of which have resulted in deaths and injuries.
Another fire broke out at Isiolo Girls’ High School, also in central Kenya, on Saturday night, with pictures posted on social media of several buildings ablaze.
Isiolo county public information officer Hussein Salesa told AFP several people were injured but police said no one was hurt.
A fire broke out at a dormitory at Nzia Boys High School in Meru County in the central region on Sunday while students were eating dinner, destroying the school, police said. No casualties were reported.
Prosecutor General Lenson Ingonga has ordered police to investigate whether the Endarasha fire was caused by negligence or recklessness, saying it “evokes bad memories of similar school fire incidents”.
Kenya’s National Gender Equality Commission said in an initial report that the Endarasha dormitory was “overcrowded and in violation of safety standards.”
“This incident raises serious concerns about children’s right to safety in educational institutions,” the non-governmental organization Vocal Africa said in a statement about X.
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