Nyeri: A guard, a boarding master, and a matron have narrated to a Nyeri court how a night inferno at Hillside Endarasha Academy on September 5, 2024, engulfed the boys' dormitory, leaving 21 dead and several others injured. The three, who are among the first set of witnesses to testify in the public inquest established to piece together the series of events that took place at the school late last year, told the court that the tragedy happened just two days after the school had reopened for the third term.
According to Kenya News Agency, in their accounts before Nyeri Senior Resident Magistrate Mary Gituma, the three testified how they, together with villagers, tried to save as many boys as they could from the dormitory fire. On the first day of the inquest, James Maina, a former guard at the school, narrated how he noticed a cloud of smoke billowing from the boys' dormitory at around 10 pm while making his normal night patrols at the school compound.
Maina described how the fire was at one of the three doors of the dormitory and recounted his immediate reaction of calling for help with a whistle and assisting the boys to get out of the dorm through the other two doors and windows. He added that some boys were asleep while others were calling for help, but their cries were muffled by noise from night vigil prayers at a neighboring church. Maina also noted that the patron was absent from the school, nursing injuries from an accident two days prior to the incident, and some of the patron's duties had been assigned to him.
Beatrice Nduta, a matron at the school, testified that she switched off the electricity from the main switch as a precautionary measure to prevent the fire from spreading. She explained that the dormitories' lights stayed on all night and that the school relied on solar power in addition to electricity from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company. Nduta described her actions upon being woken by a knock from one of the girls, including evacuating the girls to the classrooms and checking the kitchen for fire.
The school's former boarding master, Kelvin Ndegwa, detailed the dormitory structure, noting that it was about 10 meters from the school kitchen and constructed using brick and iron sheets. He stated that the dormitory could accommodate 164 boys, but only 161 had reported to school on the material day. Ndegwa recounted hearing a commotion at 11 pm, initially dismissing it as noise from a church vigil until his wife informed him that the school was on fire. He rushed to the scene, helped gather children, and witnessed the arrival of firefighters.
The matter moved to court on the recommendation of the Director of Public Prosecution, with the decision announced by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen. The inquest is set to continue on February 5, 2026, before Senior Resident Magistrate Mary Gituma, with more witnesses, including three minors, expected to testify.