Jordan extends condolences to Kenya after tragic school fire

AMMAN — Jordan on Saturday expressed its deepest condolences and sympathy to the government and people of Kenya over the tragic fire at a school in central Kenya, which resulted in casualties, injuries, and missing individuals.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sufian Qudah stressed the Kingdom's full solidarity with the government and people of Kenya, voicing condolences to the victims' families, wishing the injured a speedy recovery, and the safe return of those missing, according to a ministry statement.

Kenyan police stepped up their investigations Saturday into a prime school dormitory blaze that has now cost the lives of 18 boys, as families faced an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"It is a catastrophe beyond our imagination," government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said at a press briefing at the Hillside Endarasha Academy where the fire struck around midnight Thursday, AFP added.

The flames engulfed a dormitory at the primary school where more than 150 boys aged between nine and 13 were sleeping.

Mwaura said 18 children had died in the blaze at the school in the central county of Nyeri, up from a previous toll of 17 given by President William Ruto on Friday, according to AFP.