Detectives investigating the night inferno at Utumishi Girls’ Academy in Gilgil are pursuing a possible arson angle after preliminary findings pointed to suspicious circumstances surrounding the incident that killed 16 students.

Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have spent the past several hours combing through the scene and interviewing witnesses in an effort to establish what sparked the late-night blaze that turned one of the school dormitories into a death trap.

So far, investigators have recorded statements from more than 20 students, members of the school administration, security guards and the school matron as they attempt to reconstruct the events leading up to the tragedy.

According to investigators, witness accounts indicate that the fire is believed to have started near the main entrance of the Meline Waithera dormitory before rapidly spreading through the building.

Students who managed to flee through the main entrance reportedly suffered varying burn injuries in the chaos as panic gripped the dormitory.

However, others attempting to escape through the emergency exit were trapped after finding the door locked.

Police say 16 students died near the emergency exit, with their bodies severely burnt in the inferno.

Survivors told investigators that security guards desperately tried to force open the emergency door in an effort to rescue the trapped students, but the flames had already spread quickly through the dormitory.

“We are seeking answers why the school matron was absent in the dormitory at the time of the incident,” detectives noted.

Investigators want to establish why she was reportedly unreachable as the emergency unfolded.

The school principal and two security guards are among those who have already been questioned as detectives intensify efforts to determine whether the fire was deliberately started or caused by an accident.

Investigators are further analysing CCTV footage collected from the school as part of the ongoing inquiry.

The footage is expected to help establish movements within and around the dormitory before the fire broke out.

Police have not ruled out the possibility of an electrical fault and say forensic experts are examining the scene for additional evidence.

The tragedy has once again raised concerns over safety standards in schools, particularly the accessibility of emergency exits during disasters.