India, May 29 -- A fire ripped through a dormitory in a girls' boarding school in central Kenya on Thursday, killing at least 16 students, a government official said, in the latest such incident to afflict the East African nation.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said Thursday that 79 others were injured at the Utumishi Girls School, which has more than 800 students in the Gilgil area of central Kenya. The cause has not yet been established. Ogamba said authorities would investigate whether the school's fire safety manual had been adhered to. Police said they were leading the rescue and emergency response efforts at the school, which is located about 120 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi. The Government-owned secondary school is manag...