President Daniel arap Moi has pledged to get to the truth behind Kenya's deadliest fire in recent years, as suspicions grew that the blaze in the early hours of yesterday might have been deliberately set.
As stunned Kenyans contemplated horrific television footage of what Mr Moi called the ghastly incident, teachers at Kyanguli mixed secondary school said they suspected a fire that killed 57 teenaged boys was started by an arsonist with a grudge over a cheating scandal.
Survivor after survivor spoke of suspicious incidents in the minutes before the dormitory erupted in flames in the early hours of yesterday, and teachers recalled recent acrimony among pupils over the education authorities' cancellation of exam results following a cheating scandal.
"Some of the students and parents were very distressed", Mr Jack Kakonzi, a former member of the school board, said. "They thought nothing was being done (to reinstate the exam results) ...this may have precipitated this action."
Over 30 pupils had recently had their school-leaving exam results quashed and teachers said rumours had been rife that mass expulsions were expected this week.
Mr Sammy Kyungu, Kenya's director of education, was cautious about suggestions that the fire was started by disgruntled students, saying it was not the only school to be plagued by cheating allegations.
"It is too early to connect the two", he said. This school, like 99 others, was affected in recent cancellation of results.
But Mr Kyungu's was a minority voice. Several police spokesmen said they were pursuing the possibility of foul play at the school near Machakos town 65 km (40 miles) east of Nairobi.