Students at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) were thrown into disarray on Tuesday, 10 December, after a fire broke out in one of their hostels while they were asleep.
In the early morning incident, which occurred at 3 am, students were forced to flee for safety after a fire erupted at Hall 5 within the institution.
Further reports indicated that this was the second consecutive time a fire had affected an accommodation facility, with no significant intervention taken to address the issue.
Reports indicate that about seven students were injured in the early morning incident and they were rushed to hospital by the management of JKUAT for further treatment.
Videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke, depicted huge balls of fire and smoke engulfing the affected building as students watched in disbelief.
The students could also be heard shouting in agony as rescue operations by their fellows continued.
Kenyans.co.ke learnt of a purported warning letter circulating on social media, alleging that the university administration had been cautioned about the incident.
However, we could not independently verify the claims within the letter, which suggested that the suspected arsonists had targeted a population of 5,000 students from the university.
Additionally, our efforts to contact the management of the institution proved futile as our calls were redirected to the Registrar, who did not respond to our questions.
Sources we spoke to revealed that they were engaged in a high-level management meeting regarding the incident, and the earliest they could respond would be later in the day.
Meanwhile, firefighters and disaster management teams arrived promptly at the scene and successfully contained the fire before it could spread to other buildings.
Details about the extent of the damage remained unclear at the time of publishing this story, as authorities, including detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, continued to investigate the incident.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE