A fire in a school dormitory in Kenya killed 17 pupils and seriously injured 13 others, police said on Friday.

There are fears the death toll may rise, officers said.

The cause of the fire on Thursday night at Hillside Endarasha Primary in Nyeri county was being investigated, police spokesperson Resila Onyango said.

“We are investigating and will take necessary action,” she said.

The school caters to children up to the age of 14.

Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the education ministry reported that the dormitory that caught fire housed more than 150 boys aged between 10 and 14. Since most of the buildings are built with wooden planks, the fire spread quickly.

The school, which has 824 students, is located in the country’s central highlands, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi.

The Nyeri County governor, Mutahi Kahiga, told journalists that rescue efforts were hampered by the muddy roads caused by ongoing rains in the area.

Anxious parents who had been unable to trace their children among survivors waited at the school.

President William Ruto called the news “devastating” and said action would be taken against those responsible.

“I instruct relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account,” he wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

His deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, urged school administrators to ensure that safety guidelines recommended by the education ministry for boarding schools are being followed.

In 2017, 10 high school students died in a school fire in the capital, Nairobi. The deadliest school fire was in 2001 when 67 students died in a dormitory fire in Machakos county.