At least 17 pupils have died after a dormitory at a boarding school in central Kenya caught fire on Thursday night, September 5, police said.

The cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy, a primary school, in Nyeri county is not yet known.

More rescuers were on their way to the Hillside Endarasha academy in Nyeri, the spokesperson, Resila Onyango, said in a broadcast on Kenya’s Hot 96 FM radio, and authorities would provide details later.

“We have lost 17 pupils in the fire incident while 14 are injured,” Onyango told Reuters by telephone. “Our team is at the scene at the moment.”

The fire had burned the students beyond recognition, Citizen Television said earlier.

President William Ruto called the fire “horrific” and “devastating”, and has ordered an investigation.

“I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” Ruto posted on X.

A team of investigators has been deployed to the school, police said.

More than 150 pupils were in the dormitory when it caught fire at around midnight local time, police chief Pius Murugu said.

The blaze spread very fast as most of the buildings in the school were made of timber, according to a journalist from network Citizen TV.