Nakuru County waives mortuary and postmortem bill for 16 students who perished in Utumishi Girls school fire tragedy

The County Government of Nakuru has waived all mortuary and post-mortem fees for the families of the 16 students who died in the Utumishi Girls Academy dormitory fire.

Chief Officer for Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Joyce Ncece said no affected family would bear the cost of preserving or examining the bodies of the victims.

"We have waived all mortuary bills and post-mortem fees for all the affected families. No family has paid any of these charges because the county government has catered for them. We have also facilitated the issuance of burial permits without any delay," she said.

Ncece added that the county government had also extended support to the family of a parent who died in a road accident while rushing to the school after news of the fire broke.

Faith Irine, the mother of a Form Four student at Utumishi Girls Senior Secondary School, died in a crash at Kariandusi near Gilgil as she travelled to check on her daughter following the inferno.

According to police, the Prado she was travelling in was involved in a head-on collision in the early hours of May 28 while heading towards the school.

"The transit vehicle from Nairobi to Nakuru was overtaking carelessly and collided with the Prado that was headed to Gilgil," said Winstone Mwakio, then.

He said Irine was travelling with her husband, who sustained serious injuries and was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital while her body was transferred to the Gilgil Sub-County Mortuary.

The road crash occurred hours after the early morning dormitory fire that claimed the lives of 16 students at Utumishi Girls Academy.