Pope Francis ‘deeply saddened’ by Nyeri school fire
Parents grieve after visiting the scene where 17 pupils died in a fire at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County on September 6, 2024. Inset: Pope Francis.
What you need to know:
- Pope offers his prayers for the personnel and the civil authorities who continue to provide assistance.
- The Thursday night fire at the school claimed the lives of 17 pupils withy 14 more admitted in hospital.
Pope Francis has sent a message of condolences to the families that lost 17 pupils in a tragic fire incident at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County.
In a telegram to Nyeri Archbishop Anthony Muheria, the Pope said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the loss of young lives.
Read: ‘We tried our best to save them’: Rescuers, relatives' horrors in Hillside Endarasha fire tragedy
“His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to be informed of the loss of young life... and expresses his spiritual closeness to all who are suffering the effects of this calamity, especially the injured and the families who grieve,” the telegram to Archbishop Muheria by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, reads.
In the message, Pope Francis commended the souls of the dead to the “loving mercy of Almighty God” and offered his “prayers for the personnel and the civil authorities who continue to provide assistance.”
“Upon all, the Holy Father invokes the Lord’s blessings of strength, peace and consolation,” the telegram further reads.
Pope Francis is currently in Papua New Guinea as he continues the second stage of his 45th Apostolic Journey abroad, which is taking him to Asia and Oceania.
The Thursday night fire at the school claimed the lives of 17 pupils withy 14 more admitted in hospital.
