By Cyrus Ombati
To Michael Njenga’s friends and relatives, the fire at the Le Pic Secondary School, Riruta, in Nairobi was a double tragedy. A fire consumed him and three other colleagues as they slept on Sunday night.
The fierce fire burned down the boys’ dormitory, which housed 120 other students who survived the inferno.
The others were Kevin Mulinge, Form One, Eric Omondi, Form Two and KCSE candidate Joseph Kamau. Njenga was in Form One.
Traumatic experience
Their caretaker, Stephen Odhiambo, too perished as he tried to save the deceased and the others who were trapped in the dormitory.
Njenga’s death is a painful end to a traumatic experience he had when he was in Standard Eight in 2007. Three weeks to his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations, he suffered a stroke after some colleagues tried to strangle him.
He spent nearly three years in hospital and had for some time been confined to a wheelchair and used crutches.
In recent times, Njenga was undergoing therapy for memory loss.
Teachers and colleagues, who talked to The Standard, described Njenga as a brilliant boy whose excellence was halted by the untimely stroke.
Njenga’s mother grieved in the school compound. She was in too much pain for losing her son to speak.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established but experts were yesterday at the scene to investigate. The school’s secondary section was immediately closed for one week but the primary school remains in session.
Six Form Four candidates sat their French paper yesterday at the nearby Nembu Girls’.
Witnesses and police said the fire may have started from a cubicle where Odhiambo slept before spreading to the main dormitory.
Odhiambo’s body was collected from a toilet next to the cubicle — perhaps he had gone to fetch water to fight the fire or wash his face.
After the fire broke out, the students were unable to escape fast as the part of the door that is reinforced with metal grilles had been locked by Odhiambo.
Scream for help
Survivors said all they did was to scream for help as others banged on the roof.
Residents of Riruta area rushed there to help but guards at the main gate barred them.
Simon Gachuru said after they were denied entry, they watched helplessly as the fire raged. Unable to stand this, some residents broke the perimeter fence next to the dormitory and entered the compound.
“After we reached the dormitory we realised the main door was grilled and had been locked. We pulled down part of the wall that forms the dormitory and managed to save many of the students,” Gachuru said.
When they thought they had done a splendid job of saving the students, they were told four were missing including Njenga.
They went back into the dorm and found the four unconscious. Some students told The Standard that Odhiambo had been strict with the students by not allowing them to use mobile phones in the dormitory; an issue police suspect could have a link to the incident.
The caretaker was new in his work having been deployed there less than three weeks ago. His predecessor allowed the students to use the gadgets.
Nairobi PPO Moses Ombati and Dagoretti DC Cornelius Wamalwa said their investigation would focus on whether this was an electrical fault or an act of arson.