Teachers at Kakamega Primary School on Wednesday narrated their accounts of the stampede that claimed 15 children in February last year.
The teachers testified at the start of a public inquest into the cause of the stampede before Kakamega senior principal magistrate Dolphin Alego.
Eleven tutors told the court that they had just ended an English meeting at the school on the fateful day.
They said they had gone back to their respective classes to give homework, when they suddenly heard screams from the classrooms in the storey building.
They also started receiving calls from teachers on duty for assistance.
The tutors said they rushed to the scene to help teachers on duty and class teachers who were overwhelmed by the commotion.
Boda boda operators who had come to collect pupils from school also assisted in the rescue mission.
They said they called in ambulances which moved the victims to hospital where they were pronounced dead.
They however, said they did not know what caused the stampede.
The pupils who died were Jane Kiverenge, Bertha Munywele, Salima Olaso, Verm Prince, Samuel Simekha, Fidel Atamba, Catherine Aloo, Joseph Mutsami, Venessa Andeso, Antonatte Khayumbi, Lydia Laventa, Prudence Eliza, Simon Waweru, Nicole Achola and Junne Nakhumicha.
They were in Grade 3, 4 and 5 and aged between nine and 12. Thirty-eight others suffered fractures and soft tissue injuries.
The prosecution has lined up 36 witnesses, largely teachers, pupils and parents of the anxiety flight victims that occurred on February 3, 2020.
The magistrate adjourned the hearing to June 14.
Police investigations failed to find anybody criminally liable for the accident.
In June last year, the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that investigations into the cause of the stampede be conducted through a public inquest.
Prosecution counsel Erick Mutua said in a report on the file forwarded for direction by the Western DCI office that the matter be placed before a magistrate under Section 386 of the Criminal Procedure Code for formal closure by way of a public inquest.
“I find that there is no clear criminal act that has been committed that is evident. No persons have been mentioned in connection with the stampede as well. This was an unfortunate event and innocent children lost their lives,” he said.
Postmortem reports indicate the 15 children died from asphyxia following the stampede. Asphyxia occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen, causing unconsciousness or death.
Kakamega County Referral Hospital pathologist Dickson Muchana, who conducted the postmortem, said the deceased had problems with the lungs caused by the pile-up of pupils during the stampede.
The school has a population of 3,128 pupils, 51 classes and 74 teachers making it the third most populated school in Kenya.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
