Gilgil, Kenya<\/em> \u2014 A fire at a school for girls in central Kenya has caused an unknown number of deaths, according to police, who said search teams have been deployed.<\/p>\n French news agency AFP cites a police source as saying 16 girls were killed at 73 injured.<\/p>\n Broadcaster Citizen Television quoted county police official Masoud Mwinyi as telling distraught parents outside the school it is a “distressing and saddening situation,” according to the Reuters news service.<\/p>\n Authorities were trying to account for all the students at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area.<\/p>\n The fire broke out early Thursday morning in the boarding school’s accommodation section. The cause hasn’t been determined. <\/p>\n School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, with some caused by arson and others by electrical faults. <\/p>\n Kenya’s deadliest recent school fire occurred in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos County. <\/p>\n In 2024, 21 students burned to death in a school fire in central Kenya. President William Ruto declared three days of mourning. <\/p>\n In 2017, 10 students died in a school fire in the capital Nairobi. A student was charged with murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n