Memorial
An interdenominational memorial service for the 21 victims of the Hillside Endarasha Academy will be held next week, acting Central Regional Commissioner Pius Murugu has said.
According to the acting Regional Commissioner, RC, the memorial service will then pave the way for the Hillside Academy Fire Disaster Management Committee to make burial preparations of the victims who lost their lives during the September 5-night fire. Speaking after chairing a meeting with the committee in his office on Tuesday afternoon, Murugu told the press that the team is waiting for the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to release the bodies to the committee by the end of this week after they conclude their investigations to allow the team to finalize on the burial arrangements.
“We are expecting that by next week we shall be having the memorial service for all the victims so that we can release them to the families. We have also decided that the memorial service will be at Mweiga Stadium. We have not been able to know the day because of other logistics, but by next week, we must be able to get through with everything,” said Murugu.
Mr Murugu reiterated the government’s promise to foot all burial expenses for the 21 pupils who lost their lives at the school fire on September 5. He said that the committee will assist the families in transporting and interring the remains of the victims. He noted that a majority of the victims of the inferno hail from Kieni-East sub-county while others hail from Nakuru, Nairobi, Embu and Meru counties.
“We expect that DNA matching should be complete and we should be able to know the names of the victims and match the bodies which are at Naro Moru hospital. The government is taking care of all the burial expenses for the victims. We should be able to liaise with the families and assist them for the bodies to be able to reach various destinations,” said Murugu.
On Tuesday last week, Murugu confirmed that out of the 164 pupils who were sleeping in the doomed dormitory on that fateful Thursday night, only 19 perished while two others died while receiving specialized treatment in hospital. He also set the records straight and confirmed that all the 164 boys who were in the ill-fated dormitory had been accounted for.
At the same time, the acting RC also said that in addition to footing burial expenses and medical bills for two survivors who are currently recuperating at the Kenyatta National Hospital, the committee will also facilitate the survivors to purchase personal items that were destroyed in the fire. On Sunday, President Dr William Ruto donated Sh 2 million to Hillside Endarasha Academy victims to facilitate the purchase of personal items and school essentials that were destroyed in a fire.
“We have also taken into consideration those who lost all their personal effects. We were to budget for all the expenses which will be incurred and the government will take care of all the expenses,” he said.
On the school re-opening, Murugu said that a special sub-committee had been formed to help bring the school back on its feet ahead of the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment. He however said that the school will only be re-opened after all the victims have been buried.
“We will not be able to re-open the school without burying the victims so that is why we have agreed to conclude the burial arrangements for everybody by next week. After one week, we shall be able to see how the school will be re-opened of course in consultation with parents and all other stakeholders,” he stated.
Regarding the progress of investigations, Murugu said that the DCI had already concluded investigations at the scene of the tragedy and handed the school over to its management. He said that the multi-agency team had not yet zeroed in on what caused the deadly blaze as the team was currently analyzing the evidence collected from the scene.
Last week Kenya Power ruled out an electric fault as the cause of the fire at the school. Nyeri Kenya Power Business manager Duncan Machuka said after conducting comprehensive investigations at the school power connections, it had been established that the cause of the fire lay elsewhere. The company’s investigations also revealed the line supplying power to the school is a low voltage line from Mweiga substation and that at the time of the incident the supply was stable. Similarly, Kenya Power verified that the utility power installations including the meter, supply cable, earthlings’, low voltage and high tension fuses and the transformer were intact.
“What is currently happening is that all the evidence which was collected by the DCI has gone for analysis and within the shortest time possible they will be able to give their verdict as to the cause of the fire and what exactly happened,” stated Murugu.