DNA testing is due to begin in Kenya on Monday to help identify the boys who lost their lives in a deadly school dormitory blaze last week.
The nation has also started three days of mourning for the 21 young victims of the grim tragedy that has raised fresh concerns about safety standards at Kenyan schools.
The children perished after flames engulfed their dormitory at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri county in central Kenya as they were sleeping late on Thursday night.
Nineteen bodies were found in the charred ruins of the building, while another two died in hospital, but 17 were still unaccounted for, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said on Saturday.
Police have said the bodies of the youngsters, aged between nine and 13, were burnt beyond recognition, and families have been facing an agonising wait to find out the fate of their loved ones.
“The forensic exercise of identifying the bodies will start on Monday because that’s the only way they can be identified,” Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murigu told AFP on Sunday.
“We are urging the affected families to turn up tomorrow (Monday) at the Naromoru hospital to be part of the next process of forensic identification of the remains from this tragedy,” he said, referring to a medical facility about an hour’s drive from the school.
Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor has said postmortems would begin on Tuesday.
President William Ruto on Friday declared the mourning period to honour the victims of what he described as an “unfathomable tragedy”.
Flags are due to fly at half mast on all Kenyan public buildings, military bases and embassies from dawn on Monday to sunset on Wednesday.
Peoplesmind
