Parents whose children perished at the Hillside Endarasha academy will have to wait a little longer, as DNA samples for the 19 bodies, retrieved from the ill-fated dormitory got underway.
Parents who had not been able to account for the whereabouts of their children thronged the Naromoru Level 4 hospital mortuary Monday, even as collection of DNA samples on the bodies kicked off.
Nyeri County Commissioner and acting Central Region Commissioner Pius Murugu told KNA the process of identifying bodies and matching their DNA with the parents will require painstaking efforts owing to the state of the bodies.
He also confirmed that out of the 164 pupils who were sleeping in the doomed dormitory on Thursday night last week before it caught fire, only 19 perished while two are in hospital receiving specialized treatment.
The administrator has also set the records straight confirming that all the 164 boys who were in the dormitory have been accounted for.
Earlier on the number of boys who had been sleeping in the dorm had been placed at 156. The school had a total of 824 pupils.
“What is currently going on is the matching of the DNA samples, which is quite critical due to the complexity required in analysing the data. We have also confirmed that the number of pupils who perished was 19 while those still hospitalized stands at two. We were also to call all the parents and find the whereabouts of all the boys who were in the dormitory and we have established that the total number of boys sleeping that night was 164,” said Murugu.
A report by Government Spokesman Dr. Isaac Mwaura released yesterday put the number of boarders in the school at 330 with 166 of them being girls.
The rest of the school’s population are day scholars.
Currently the school has been cordoned off as sleuths from the Directorate of Criminals Investigation undertake probe on what could have sparked the inferno that led to the devastating tragedy.
Central Region Red cross coordinator Esther Chege termed the incident unfortunate and assured all the families affected by the tragedy that they will be given all the necessary support during this difficult time.
She said they had already set up a help desk to attend to families who have been affected by the tragedy to ensure they get all the needed support during this time.
“It is so unfortunate that this had to happen. We are here to offer support to the government and the school. We will be offering counseling support until we wind up this operation. We are giving counseling to the parents, learners and the community continuously. We have set up a tracing desk where we will connect the parents to those in hospitals.
We also thank the community for the quick response.” she said.
Area MCA Warutere Ndegwa conveyed his condolences to the affected families and termed the incident a painful tragedy.
He hailed both the national and county government for their prompt action in responding to the incident which has shaken the county of Nyeri and nation at large prompting President Dr William Ruto to order three days of mourning from Sunday.
Both the national and the East African flags will be flown at half-mast during the period.
“This tragedy has deeply shaken us all. My heartfelt sympathies go out to the affected families. Despite our prompt response, poor road conditions hindered emergency vehicles from arriving in time. We extend our gratitude to the Regional Commissioner and the Red Cross for their swift and invaluable assistance,” said Warutere.
Meanwhile, the Hillside Endarasha Academy tragedy has prompted calls by Nyeri residents on the need for enhanced safety measures in boarding schools to avert such tragedies in future.
Speaking to KNA yesterday, Mophat Kariuki, a bodaboda rider, termed the school fire incident a tragedy that is hard to come to terms with.
He urged the Government to come up with stringent policies that will compel schools to institute safety measures for their learners in order to curb such unfortunate incidents.
“It’s incredibly painful for a parent to lose a child, especially one whom they took to school with high hopes the pupil will become a better person in future, but only to see such dreams reduced to ashes. It is high time teachers and school managers took extra precautions and cared for children that have been committed to their custody and ensured they remain safe at all times,” said Kariuki.
He underscored that ensuring students’ safety should be a top priority, and that appropriate measures must be put in place to address and mitigate risks.
“Every school dormitory should have sufficient fire extinguishers and a matron at all times to assist when a need arises,” added Kariuki.
He also stressed that school doors should not be locked from the outside and that window panes should not have mesh wires to ensure students can escape in case of an emergency.
Joyce Mwangi, a businesswoman in Nyeri town, reiterated that both the county and national governments should provide consistent support, rather than only showing up during times of disaster.
“The roads to Hillside are poorly maintained, which delayed assistance in terms of the fire extinguisher arriving on time. If the county government had constructed better roads, we would have had a better chance of saving more children,” said Mwangi.
She added the dormitories should be well spacious so that in case of an emergency students can have a way of escape.
“There could be a stampede whereby students are in panic trying to run for their lives due to lack of enough space, hence leaving others injured,’’ noted Mwangi.
Philip Kuria, a matatu operator, says thorough investigations should be carried out to ensure the real cause of the fire is known.
“The government should dig deeper on the root cause of the fire tragedy. The story behind it does not add up. The investigations should clear the rumours,” said Kuria.
