For hours, they searched hospitals, stared anxiously at crowds of survivors and waited helplessly outside school gates hoping to catch a glimpse of their daughters.
But for many parents at Utumishi Girls' school in Gilgil, Thursday became a day of agony, confusion and heartbreak after a deadly dormitory fire killed 16 students and injured dozens more.
Inside the school compound, grief hung heavily in the sunny morning as distraught families arrived from different parts of the country after receiving terrifying calls in the middle of the night.
Some sat quietly on stones and pavements, while others clutched phones desperately trying to get answers about their children.
A mother, whose daughter is in Grade 10, broke down while narrating the painful search for his child.
“They have been taking me in rounds. I have asked a police officer who was here to tell me where she is but she is not telling me anything,” she said.
The mother of three recalled how she has visited two hospitals where those injured had been rushed in search for her in vain.
"I have gone to St Mary’s Hospital and St Joseph's Mission Hospital but I have not found her. They should just tell me if she is still alive or not so that I can know because there is nothing we can do if she is no more," she said.
The uncertainty was unbearable for many families.
Leah Serem from Nakuru said she received news of the fire shortly after 1am and immediately lost sleep after learning about the fire at the school.
“I could not stay in the house after hearing what had happened,” she said.
She and other parents left for the school at around 2 am.
“When we arrived, we were so worried because we didn’t know the fate of our children. It was dark, and some students were in the field,” she recalled.
Her daughter was among the students housed in the burnt dormitory.
Serem said confusion filled the compound as students who had escaped the inferno wandered around in shock while firefighters battled the flames.
According to her, more parents continued to troop into the school that night, and tension steadily built up as everyone desperately sought information about their children.
As efforts to put out the fire went on, Serem said, there was little immediate clarity or assistance for the anxious families, who were left in agonising uncertainty.
She said they waited through the long night, gathered in clusters outside the school compound, until morning, when they were finally addressed by authorities and briefed on the situation.
"We (parents) were taken to a hall by security officers who informed us that some students had been rushed to the hospital while others had fled the dormitory during the chaos," she said.
At around 9 am, Serem finally reunited with her daughter.
“When I saw her, I just cried. I thanked God because at one point I had already imagined the worst,” she said tearfully.
For another guardian, relief came after hours of searching through hospitals and among survivors gathered at the school.
“We have heard that some of them were burnt and are in the hospital. We have not been told how many students have passed on,” she said.
“I’m lucky to have found my aunt’s child. She has a broken leg, but she will be fine.”
Survivors also recounted terrifying moments as the fire spread through the dormitory shortly after midnight.
One student said screams erupted as smoke engulfed sections of the building and girls began waking each other up.
“Those who were on the upper floor were jumping, and that is why most of them were hurt,” she said softly.
For Catherine, a guardian, the journey from Samburu to Gilgil was filled with fear after she heard news of the fire in the morning.
She said the situation was even more painful because she did not know how to break the news to her daughter, who was among the survivors, especially after the girl had lost her mother just two weeks earlier and had not yet been informed about the tragedy.
“I kept asking myself what I was even going to tell her. She has just lost her mother recently and now this,” she said.
“I was scared because I didn’t even know if she was safe or injured. I just kept praying all the way here,” she added.
Catherine said she travelled immediately without hesitation, overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty.
“I didn’t even tell anyone anything. I just got out and travelled,” she said.
