Kenya Power Addresses Cause of Fire at Hillside Endarasha Amid Faulty Line Claims
Kenya Power on Tuesday denied responsibility for the fire which occurred at Hillside Endarasha in Nyeri County, gutting a dormitory leading to the demise of 21 pupils.
In a statement, the utility company noted that there was no link between the cause of the fire and its network of power supply lines amid speculation on various social media platforms.
According to Kenya Power, the fire did not affect two prepaid meters located within the larger school’s complex and the adjacent customers supplied by the same transformer.
“All Kenya Power installations including the meter, supply cable, earthings, low voltage and high tension fuses, and the transformer were intact,” Kenya Power confirmed.
An image of one of the wooden dorms at Endarasha Hillside Academy
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Kenya Power also revealed that the line which supplied electricity to the school was a low-voltage line from the Mweiga sub-station and that the supply was stable at the time when the fire incident occurred.
KPC was forced to issue clarity after a section of internet users claimed the fire at Hillside Endarasha could have been linked to an electric fault.
The power company further disclosed that it immediately switched off power supply to the school the moment the company received information about the fire incident.
“As a Company, electrical safety is of utmost priority in all our operations. Our team in Nyeri switched off the power supply to the school as a precautionary measure while handling fire incidences,” KPC noted.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected families during this difficult time, and we wish a quick recovery to all the children who were affected by this incident.”
The clarification by Kenya Power comes hours after the government revealed that the investigations into the cause of the fire were still underway with detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) leading the probe.
While commenting on the matter, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura disclosed that all the 330 pupils who were boarding at the school had been accounted for.
“The government pathologist and the DCI are carrying out autopsy and DNA investigations, to match the parents with their children who were regrettably burnt beyond recognition,” Mwaura stated.
President William Ruto (center) meets officials from Education and Interior Ministries over Hillside Endarasha Academy tragedy.
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