Eight Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) candidates in Makande Girls Secondary School in Mombasa County were rushed to hospital following a gas leak at the institution.
Confirming the Thursday morning, November 7, incident, Mombasa County Chief Fire Officer Ibrahim Basafar disclosed that the incident was reported at around 7:15 a.m.
"It was around 7:15 a.m. when we received a distress call that there was a gas that had been detected at Makande Girls Secondary School and we activated our teams. We activated firefighters and rescue teams," Basafar remarked.
He further added that a multi-agency team is on the ground and that five of the students were taken to Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital.
"The amount of gas as we speak now has gone low and is no longer poisonous or dangerous to anyone, but we had ferried five students to Coast General Hospital after fainting following the incident. We are going to cordon the area," Basafar explained.
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At the same time, he noted that investigative agencies are investigating the cause of the gas leak and anyone found culpable shall be held accountable.
"We will investigate and once we get to know who is the culprit, definitely will take action because the authorities are here. We can confirm that we are safe now but it is just unfortunate that those were KCSE candidates who were doing their examinations. We are sorry," Basafar added.
Following the incident, other students who were sitting for the national examination at the school were transferred to the nearby Makande Boys Secondary School to continue with the test.
The affected candidates are stable in the hospital and are expected to resume exams on Thursday afternoon.
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