Kenya: 15-year-old faces charges of killing classmates

By Magdalene Mukami

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - A 15-year-old girl was charged on Wednesday with multiple counts of murder over a dormitory fire last weekend that claimed the lives of nine of her fellow students.

The minor, whose identity was withheld by the children’s court, denied all the charges and was released on a $2,000 equivalent bail by Justice Luka Kimaru in a court in the capital Nairobi.

Police investigation had ruled out faulty wiring or an accident as causing the fire, which caused extensive damage at the Moi Girls School dormitory.

The hearing comes just one day after loved ones of the perished students finished identifying the bodies of their deceased relatives through DNA tests.

Since the fire last weekend, at least four other secondary schools in Kenya -- two boys' schools, and two girls' schools -- have been burned in suspected cases of arson.

Late last year, with national exams weeks away, over 120 Kenyan schools faced arson attacks. The Education Ministry blamed school officials destroying documents to avoid a cheating crackdown as the main culprit.