- Kenya Power has tried to rid itself of accusations of irresponsibility that may have caused the fire at Hillside Endarasha College
- 21 students died, and several others were injured, with some quarters attributing the fire to a suspected electrical fault.
- In its initial investigation, Kenya Power said its power supply to the school was stable at the time of the tragedy, dismissing allegations of faulty transmission.
Pain – The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has denied involvement in the deadly fire at Hillside Endarasha College that killed 21 students.
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Tragedy struck the school on Thursday night, September 5, when a dormitory for 156 boys caught fire.
Reports emerged that the fire may have been caused by an apparently faulty system, so the company was implicated.
What Kenya Power discovered from the Endarasha Academy fire
But after its quick investigation, Kenya Power suggested that the fire was of luck bad and was not caused by an unstable connection.
According to the company, the main way to supply electricity to the school from the Mweiga substation is low voltage.
When the fire broke out, the supply was uninterrupted without any reported incidents.
Kenya Power added that the installations, including meters, distribution cables, earthing, low-voltage and high-voltage fuses, and transformers, were intact during the incident, thereby clearing the allegations.
“The fire did not affect the two prepaid meters located inside the large school complex. This was the case with all other nearby customers supplied by the same transformer. According to the results of the preliminary analysis of our protection system, from the meter box to the substation where the medium voltage line serving the school originates, we have found that there is none relationship between the source of the fire and any failure in our network,” the company said in a statement that TUKO.co.ke read.
It promised to cooperate with investigators in the ongoing investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire.
Earlier, information had revealed that a faulty light bulb could have caused the fatal fire.
How the Endarasha Adacemy fire started
The surviving student said the fire started after a light bulb exploded and ignited the mattress underneath.
The bedding at the top of the double-decker bed was ignited after a spark from an exploding light bulb spread across it.
One of the students ran to get water to put out the fire but could not find it.
When he returned he found the fire spreading, making him call other students and the matron to help put it out, but it was too late.
The survivor and some other students managed to escape by using the door that was close to another dormitory used by 8th grade students.
It was later revealed that some of the bodies were found piled up at the door while the attendants were seen moving them from the dormitory to the open field.
The deceased, aged 9 years, was burnt beyond recognition.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
