Kenya school dorm fire kills at least 17 boys, 70 missing

ENDARASHA, Kenya: At least 17 young boys were killed and 70 missing after a fire ripped through a primary school dormitory in central Kenya, officials said on Friday, leaving distraught relatives desperate for news of their loved ones.

The blaze at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county began around midnight, engulfing rooms where more than 150 boys were sleeping.

“We still have 70 kids that are unaccounted -- that does not mean they are perished or they are injured... the word is that they are unaccounted for,” Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua told reporters at the scene, adding that 27 children were in hospital.

Police said earlier that 17 children had been confirmed dead. “The bodies recovered at the scene were burnt beyond recognition,” national police spokesperson Resila Onyango told AFP.