70 Children Missing After Deadly Kenya School Fire That Killed 17 Students

This aerial view shows the destruction left on the Nyeri county's Hillside Endarasha Academy dorm room in Nyeri county on September 6, 2024 after a fire broke out killing 17 children. (AFP)

'We still have 70 kids that are unaccounted -- that does not mean they are perished or they are injured,' Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua told the media

Seventy children were still missing following a blaze that destroyed a school dormitory in central Kenya and killed at least 17 young pupils, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said Friday.

“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,” Gachagua told reporters outside the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county where the fire occurred overnight.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)