Cecilia Wanjiku: The Girl Who Ran Into Fire to Save Her ‘Sisters’ at Utumishi Girls Academy

A Form Four student, Cecilia Wanjiku, died on May 28, 2026, after helping other students to escape a dormitory fire at Utumishi Girls Academy in Gilgil, Nakuru County.

Eyewitness accounts narrated a panicked dormitory as fire and smoke engulfed the rooms and Wanjiku refused to abandon her colleagues, running back into the blazing inferno and shouting out instructions.

“Keep moving! Keep moving! Stay with me! Faster!” she yelled at students, who had to feel their way through the intense heat and suffocating fumes, according to them.

“She woke up the sleeping students, held the hands of the students in shock and guided as many students as she could to safety,” a student told journalists.

Also Read: Kenya Met Lists Areas to Experience Rainfall in the Last Weekend of May

Heroic Sacrifice and Academic Promise

Wanjiku helped students who could not walk and supported others along as she nudged them forward.

The 18-year-old sustained terrible injuries while carrying out her heroic mission and died of them hours later, leaving behind an already partially destroyed dormitory and an otherwise ordinary night of studies as one of the worst tragedies in the region.

Wanjiku, aged 18, was a student at Utumishi Girls Academy from Kambere, Gilgil.

She was admitted to Karim Girls but transferred to Utumishi after scoring 399 in her 2022 KCPE exams at Gilgil Primary School.

She was among the school’s most intelligent science students according to teachers and obtained above a B+ grade in all subjects.

She had a great passion for biology and had been chosen to represent her school in a biology contest at Ape’s University on June 6.

Also Read: Chaos Online as MP Caleb Amisi Demands 24K Likes to Push Ruto Impeachment

Selfless Sacrifice and Community Mourning

“Today we mourn the painful loss of Cecilia Wanjiku. She sacrificed her life in a bid to save others. Her courage, selfless spirit and intellect will forever remain in our memories.” Hon. Martha Wangari wrote on X, extending her condolences to the family and particularly her mother, Elizabeth Wanjiru.

Police are yet to reveal the cause of the fire, while the Ministry of Education has deployed counsellors to the school where students are in mourning after losing one of their own, who preferred saving lives before her own.

Follow our WhatsApp channel for instant news updates

A collage of President William Ruto sending condolences to Utumishi Academy fire victims. PHOTO/PCS/Utumishi Girls