Maranda High dorm fire: Police recover CCTV of petrol purchase as students face arson charges

The school administration ordered the partial closure on Monday morning to avert possible clashes, accusing the Form Three cohort of targeting a dormitory used by candidates.

Twelve Form Three students spent the night at Bondo Police Station after they were arrested for allegedly attempting to flee the scene of the fire before being handed over to the administration.

Bondo Sub-County Police Commandant Robert Aboki said detectives recovered CCTV footage from two petrol stations in Bondo town, allegedly showing six of the detained students buying fuel believed to have been used in the attack.

Police said the arson targeted the three-storey Owino “B” dormitory.

Investigators alleged the plan was hatched on Saturday during a sports event, when students allegedly raised Ksh2,500 and sneaked out of the school compound to buy eight litres of petrol.

They are said to have smuggled the fuel back into the school through a fence and hid the jerrican in a dustbin before executing the plan on Sunday evening shortly after tea break.

Police said the six alleged buyers were joined by six accomplices, and that the group, wearing hoods and masks, lined corridors with mattresses and blankets, doused them with petrol and set them ablaze before fleeing.

Officers later recovered discarded masks and clothing in the toilets where police said the suspects hid.

Although the fire was put out before it spread through the entire block, the school said personal items worth thousands of shillings belonging to Form Four and Grade Ten students were destroyed.

The 12 suspects are expected to be arraigned in court on Tuesday to face arson-related charges after a Bondo court granted police temporary custody to complete investigations.