School fire 'devastating', Kenya's president says, as 17 confirmed dead

A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya killed 17 students and seriously burned 13 others, police said Friday, Azernews reports.

There are fears that the death toll may rise, police said.

The cause of the fire Thursday night at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county was being investigated, police spokesperson Resila Onyango said. The school caters to children up to the age of 14.

Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the education ministry reported that the dormitory that caught fire housed more than 150 boys aged between 10 and 14. Since most of the buildings are built with wooden planks, the fire spread very fast.

The school, which has 824 students, is located in the country’s central highlands, 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi, where wooden structures are common.