The blaze erupted around 1 a.m., prompting emergency rescue operations as firefighters and police evacuated students and searched the damaged dormitory for survivors, according to Capital FM radio.

Regional police commander Samuel Ndanyi said rescue teams were continuing operations at the school, while county police official Masoud Mwinyi described the incident as “distressing and saddening” as anxious parents gathered outside the campus.

Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire.The tragedy has renewed concerns over school safety standards in Kenya following a series of deadly boarding school fires. In 2024, 21 students died in a dormitory blaze at a primary school in neighboring Nyeri county.

According to a report by Indian Express, attendance records of the North MCD Boys’ School, Wazirabad village, Gali Number 9, show the section-wise break up of students.

• Class IA: 36 Hindus, IB: 36 Muslims
• IIA: 47 Hindus, IIB: 26 Muslims and 15 Hindus, IIC: 40 Muslims
• IIIA: 40 Hindus, IIIB: 23 Hindus and 11 Muslims, IIIC: 40 Muslims, IIID: 14 Hindus and 23 Muslims
• IVA: 40 Hindus, IVB: 19 Hindus and 13 Muslims, IVC: 35 Muslims, IVD: 11 Hindus and 24 Muslims
• VA: 45 Hindus, VB: 49 Hindus, VC: 39 Muslims and 2 Hindus, VD: 47 Muslims

According to the Right To Education Act, the school violates the law as each section should ideally have 30 students at the primary level.

However, C B Singh Sehrawat, the teacher put in-charge of the school on July 2 after the principal was transferred, denied deliberately segregating the students on the basis of religion.

“Reshuffling of sections is standard procedure which happens in all schools. This was a management decision to try and do the best we can to see that there is peace, discipline and a good learning environment in the school. Children fought sometimes”, he said.

“Some children are vegetarian, so there may be differences, and so on. We need to look after the interests of all teachers and students”, he added.

According to the source, a group of teachers from the school went to the MCD zonal office in Civil Lines around 20 days ago to complain authorities about the matter, but they avoided writing the grievance to avoid backlash.

A senior official from the education department of the North Municipal Corporation of Delhi said, “Now that this has been brought to our notice, we will definitely inquire about it. If the allegations are true, strict action will be taken.”

The mother of a Class I student, who was not aware of this cruel act, said, “This is extremely wrong, if true. We believe all children are equal. What is going to happen if they are treated like this at the school level itself? This is very disturbing.”