We suspect arson. One of us saw a man wearing an adidas jacket pouring some liquid on the floor. Several people at the school said school authorities had been alerted Saturday to the smell of petrol. One of the police investigators said that the way the fire had reportedly spread so quickly suggested flammable liquid had been used. Staff members suggested a link between the fire and the cancellation of some 36 students' final exam results because of cheating.
All leads are open.
According to English teacher Francis Ngunga, a pupil came out of the dormitory in the middle of the night to tell the matron about the presence of liquid on the room's floor. When the boy and the matron returned, the building was on fire, the teacher said, adding that door from which the boy had exited had since also been locked. Some of the pupils inside managed to break this door down, the teacher said. Others escaped through the collapsed roof. Around 144 girls were sleeping in the dormitory when the fire broke out.