A dormitory fire in Kenya kills 18 students and injures 27. Dozens are unaccounted for

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya has killed 18 students and 27 others have been hospitalized, with 70 children unaccounted for, the country’s deputy president said Friday.

President William Ruto declared three days of mourning during which flags will be flown at half-staff in honor of the children who died.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said only 86 out of more than 150 children had been accounted for, and urged community members who may have sheltered some of them to help account for them.

Gachagua said that one more student had died at the hospital and that 37 pupils had been reunited with their parents so far.

The cause of the fire Thursday night at Hillside Endarasha Primary school in Nyeri County was being investigated, police spokesperson Resila Onyango said. The school serves 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 between ages 10 and 14. Since most of the buildings are made from wooden planks, the fire spread quickly.

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

Nyeri County Gov. Mutahi Kahiga told journalists that rescue efforts were hampered by muddy roads caused by rains in the area.

Anxious parents who had been unable to find their children among the survivors waited at the school, engulfed with grief.

The parents were overcome by emotions after they were allowed to view the scene of the fire.

John Rukwaro told journalists that his 11-year-old grandson was missing and he had checked with area hospitals without success.

The education ministry's permanent secretary, Belio Kipsang, said that the government was working with the school administration to account for all the children in the boarding section.

“We are asking the parents who picked up their children and the community to support us as we consolidate the numbers to ensure that we account for every child who was boarding in this school,” he said.

Ruto called the news “devastating.”

“I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” he said in an X post.

His deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, urged school administrators to ensure that safety guidelines recommended by the education ministry for boarding schools are being followed.

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, often caused by arson fueled by drug abuse and overcrowding, according to a recent education ministry report. Many students board because parents believe it gives them more time to study without long commutes.

Some fires have been started by students during protests over the workload or living conditions. In 2017, 10 high school students died in a school fire in Nairobi started by a student.

Kenya's deadliest school fire in recent history was in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos county.

The education ministry's guidelines recommend that dormitories should be spacious enough and have two doors on each end, an emergency door in the middle and that windows aren't fitted with grills in order to allow for escape in case of fire. Fully serviced fire extinguishers and fire alarms are required at easily accessible spots.

It wasn't immediately clear if these guidelines were followed at Hillside school and the area near the dormitory has remained cordoned off.

Distressed parents and relatives stand outside the administration block near a burned-out dormitory, following a fire at the Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sep. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)

Kenya Red Cross personnel and relatives try to comfort a woman reacting near a burned-out dormitory, following a fire at the Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sep. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)

Distressed parents and relatives stand near a burned-out dormitory, following a fire at the Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)

An ambulance drives inside the Hillside Endarasha Primary school following a fire incident in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sep. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)

Distressed parents stand near a burnt-out dormitory, following a fire at the Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sep. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)

Part of a dormitory is seen following a fire at the Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri, Kenya Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya has killed several students and seriously burned others. (AP Photo)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A union leader freed from prison Monday after serving time for her part in a strike against Cambodia’s biggest casino has vowed to continue the labor action until justice is done.

Chhim Sithar was sentenced in May 2023 to two years' imprisonment for incitement to commit a felony, including time served before her conviction, in connection with the strike against the NagaWorld casino, the longest such labor action in the country's history.

She had been leading a strike of hundreds of workers that began in December 2021 to protest mass layoffs and alleged union-busting at the casino in the capital, Phnom Penh, and was arrested and charged after a January 2022 demonstration of dismissed employees who were demanding to be rehired.

NagaWorld in late 2021 had fired 373 employees during financial struggles related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to The Associated Press at her home shortly after her release, Chhim Sithar vowed to continue leading the strike.

"About our advocacy fighting for union rights at NagaWorld, we will continue holding strike action until we get a solution. That’s the position we have determined since the first strike,” Chhim Sithar said, sitting on the floor surrounded by relatives.

“Unfortunately, as of today, after nearly three years, our workers have still not gotten justice. Therefore, as long as there’s no justice, our struggle continues,” she said.

After Chhim Sithar’s arrest, some dismissed workers continued to hold regular protests, appealing for her release and to get their jobs back. However, the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training announced in December 2022 that more than 200 others had accepted compensation under the labor law and dropped their demands.

“Despite relentless efforts by authorities to suppress the strike — including sexual harassment, physical assaults, and judicial harassment — the LRSU strike continues in Phnom Penh,” the Cambodian human rights organization LICADHO noted Monday.

NagaWorld is owned by a company controlled by the family of late Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong. The company received its casino license in 1994 and the property is a huge integrated hotel-casino entertainment complex.

Previous labor union actions in Cambodia were usually at factories in outlying areas or in industrial estates in other provinces. The protest by the NagaWorld workers in the capital was unusually high-profile and drew police action that was sometimes violent.

Last year, the U.S. State Department named Chhim Sithar among 10 recipients of its annual Human Rights Defender Award. She was described by the then-U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy as “a courageous and tenacious labor union leader who peacefully advocates for the rights of Cambodian workers.”

Cambodia’s government has long been accused of using the judicial system to persecute critics and political opponents. Prime Minister Hun Manet succeeded his father last year after Hun Sen ruled for four decades, but there have been few signs of political liberalization.

Chhim Sithar, second from right, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, sits near her mother, center, as she meets her staff members in her sister's home at the outskirts of Phnom Penh Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, after the prominent union leader freed from prison on Monday after serving time for her part in a strike against the country’s biggest casino. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Chhim Sithar, second from right, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, meets with her mother, center, and her staff members in her sister's home at the outskirts of Phnom Penh Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, after the prominent union leader freed from prison on Monday after serving time for her part in a strike against the country’s biggest casino. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, smiles as she meets her staff members in her sister's home at the outskirts of Phnom Penh Cambodia, Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, after the prominent union leader freed from prison on Monday after serving time for her part in a strike against the country’s biggest casino. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)