Hillside Endarasha Academy: Memorial Service For Fire Victims To Be Held Next Week

• Bereaved families will soon be laying their children to rest weeks after they died in a tragic fire incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy
• Investigative bodies announced completing their probe into the fire that claimed 21 lives on September 5
• Meanwhile, the school is preparing for reopening, with the owner stipulating measures placed to avert such tragedies in future

Kai Eli, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings more than three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nyeri—The memorial service for the deceased pupils at Hillside Endarasha Academy will be held in the coming week.

Nyeri county commissioner Pius Murugu said announced the completion of the investigations into the tragic fire reported on September 5.

The bodies taken to the Naromoru Level 4 Hospital were subjected to DNA analyses owing to the severity of the burns they suffered.

Where will memorial service for Endarasha kids be held?

Families now await the results before the bodies are handed to them.

Murugu said an interdenominational memorial service will be held jointly at the Mweiga Stadium in Kieni before the deceased pupils are laid to rest by their respective families.

The national government will settle all the burial and treatment expenses.

"We shall be having the memorial service for all the victims so that the bodies can be released to the families. The government is taking care of all the burial and treatment expenses," he said.

Video; courtesy

The county commissioner added that the government would replace the learning materials and other items damaged by the fire for the learners resuming their classes soon.

"We have many who lost their personal effects. Today, we budgeted for all the expenses to be incurred, and the government will take care of that," said Murugu.

What measure has Endarasha Academy put to avert fires?

Meanwhile, the owner of the school revealed plans were underway for reopening.

David Kinyua Wambugu was handed the right to reopen the school after two weeks of intense investigations.

One of the measures he announced would be reducing the school's boarding capacity.

It will now hold 195 learners only from 330.

To implement this change, students who live closer to the school will no longer be permitted to board.

Where were bodies of Endarasha Academy kids taken?

All the bodies retrieved at the scene were subjected to DNA sampling to identify them.

Government chief pathologist Johansen Oduor said the deceased were burnt beyond recognition, hence the need for scientific tests.

The government confirmed having accounted for all the learners as of Monday, September 9.

According to the Ministry of Education, of the school's 824 students, 156 boys and 160 girls were boarders, with the remainder attending as day scholars.

Proofreading by Asher Omondi, current affairs journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.