A fire at a boarding school for young children in central Kenya has killed 17 boys sleeping there, police said.
The blaze occurred at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri, a primary boarding school for young students.
The blaze broke out at around midnight, police said, engulfing a dormitory where the children were sleeping.
"We have lost 17 pupils in the fire incident while 14 are injured," police spokesperson Resila Onyango said.
"Our team is at the scene at the moment," she added.
Government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the boys were in grades four to eight, putting their ages at about nine to 13-years-old.
He said in a statement the dormitory housed 156 students.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
President William Ruto said he had told authorities to investigate what he called the "horrific incident" and said those responsible would be held to account.
"I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident," Mr Ruto said in a post on his X account.
"Those responsible will be held to account," he added.
Authorities have cordoned off the school, the Kenya Red Cross said on X.
There have been a series of school fires in Kenya in recent years, many of which have turned out to be arson.
In September 2017, nine students were killed in a fire at a school in the capital, Nairobi, that the government attributed to arson.
In 2001, 58 schoolboys were killed in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi.
In 2012, eight students were killed at a school in Homa Bay County in western Kenya.
