Arson caused fire at Kenyan school that killed nine girls: minister

04 September 2017 - 11:38 By Reuters
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A Kenyan police officer comforts a relative at the scene where seven Kenyan teenage schoolgirls died and 10 more were hospitalized after a fire engulfed their boarding school dormitory in Nairobi, Kenya September 2, 2017.
A Kenyan police officer comforts a relative at the scene where seven Kenyan teenage schoolgirls died and 10 more were hospitalized after a fire engulfed their boarding school dormitory in Nairobi, Kenya September 2, 2017.
Image: REUTERS/Baz Ratner

Kenya's education minister said on Monday that arson was to blame for a fire at a boarding school at the weekend that killed nine pupils, adding that there had been a spate of such fires caused by fights over senior appointments in schools.

"It was not an accident, it was arson," Minister Fred Matiang'i said of the fire at Moi Girls School in the capital.

Seven girls were killed in Saturday's blaze and two others later died of their injuries. 

Eight students perished early today and ten others are nursing serious injuries after a fire swept through a dormitory at Moi Girls School, Nairobi. The cause of the latest deadly blaze to hit a school in the country and that forced the closure of the institution is yet to be known. Two more fires were reported in different schools across the country as Patrick Igunza reports. Citizen TV is Kenya's leading television station commanding an audience reach of over 60% and in its over 12 years of existence as a pioneer brand for the Royal Media Services (RMS), it has set footprints across the country leaving no region uncovered. This is your ideal channel for the latest and breaking news, top stories, politics, business, sports, lifestyle and entertainment from Kenya and around the world. Follow us: http://citizentv.co.ke https://twitter.com/citizentvkenya https://www.facebook.com/Citizentvkenya https://plus.google.com/+CitizenTVKenya https://instagram.com/citizentvkenya

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