Cecilia Wanjiku was one of the students who perished in fire at Utumishi Girls Academy.
Cecilia Wanjiku: The Girl Who Ran Into Fire to Save Her Sisters
As you can see she is among these other who perished on the day of incident.
In the chaos of May 28, when flames ripped through Meline Waithera Dormitory at Utumishi Girls Academy, Cecilia Wanjiku did not run out. She ran in.
Witnesses say the Form Three student heard screams from the upper floor as smoke choked the two-storey building. While others scrambled for the exits, Cecilia grabbed a blanket, soaked it with water, and cut through the raging fire toward the cubicles where 135 double-decker beds were filled with sleeping girls.
Her classmates recall her voice cutting through the panic: “Follow me, low, low!” She pulled younger students from burning beds, shielding them with her body as embers fell around them. The heat was unbearable. The first floor collapsed in flames, but Cecilia kept pushing toward the back cubicles until the fire trapped her.
She never made it out.
Cecilia Wanjiku died trying to save others. She is among the 16 students who succumbed to burns in the tragedy that has left Gilgil grieving. At 16, she chose courage over fear, sisterhood over survival. Her mother recalled her as a hard working girl who who cared more about others. She had promised her parents to score A in her final examinations.
It's being discovered that seven students are responsible for starting the fire in the domitory while others were asleep. After lighting the fire they ran outside of the domitory. Most of other girls were woken up by Cecilia Wanjiku who came in from lower domitory and she finally was cought in the fire and she perished too with other students at the entrance door which was closed from outside.
It's painful to loose such lives at an early stage like this. Ma God rest their souls in eternal peace.
