No link between Hillside school fire and power supply - KPLC

Kenya Power investigators have dismissed a network fault as the cause of the fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy that claimed the lives of 21 students last Friday.

The tragic fire, which consumed a dormitory at the school in Nyeri County, had raised concerns about a potential connection to the power supply.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Kenya Power denied responsibility for the incident, stating that there was no evidence linking the fire to its power supply network, despite widespread speculation.

“We have ascertained there was no link between the cause of the fire and any fault on our network as alleged in sections of media reports,” the company said.

Kenya Power further clarified that the fire did not impact two prepaid meters located within the school compound, nor did it affect 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,” the company said.

Additionally, the company noted that the line supplying electricity to the school was a low-voltage line from the Mweiga sub-station, which had stable power at the time of the fire.

“The line supplying the school is a low voltage line from Mweiga sub-station. At the time when the fire incident occurred, supply was stable on this line with no reported incidences,” the company said.

Kenya Power committed to cooperating fully with ongoing investigations to determine the exact cause of the tragic incident.

The government had on Monday confirmed that all 330 students at school, including 166 girls and 164 boys were accounted for.

However, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the identities of 19 boys who died in the tragic fire remained unknown.

He added that all the girls have returned home safely, but the parents of the 19 deceased boys are yet to identify their children.

Meanwhile, autopsies are still being conducted at the Naromoru Level 4 Hospital to assist in the identification process.