Families break down as 16 Utumishi fire victims honoured in Gilgil/ SCREENGRABTears flowed and grief filled the air at Gilgil Stadium on Friday as families, friends, schoolmates and leaders gathered for a funeral mass of the 16 students who lost their lives in the tragic dormitory fire.
Mourners broke down as white caskets carrying the girls were carefully removed from hearses and taken to a specially prepared area for the service.
Relatives struggled to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones, while counsellors and emergency response teams moved among mourners offering support.
The 16 white caskets, each adorned with flowers and a portrait of the student it carried, were lined up beneath large tents erected at the stadium for the memorial service.
Officials from the Kenya Red Cross provided psychosocial assistance to bereaved families, survivors and members of the public attending the service.
Among leaders present were First Lady Rachel Ruto and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.
The requiem mass comes just over two weeks after the May 28 incident that killed 16 students and injured 79 others.
The tragedy shocked the nation and drew an outpouring of condolences from Kenyans across the country.
President William Ruto mourned the students, saying the nation shared in the grief of the affected families.
"Our hearts and prayers are with the families who have lost their beloved daughters in the tragic fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil," the President said at the time.
Nine students are currently being held by the police as investigations into the cause of the fire continue.
