Nearly 80 more people have been injured and taken to hospital, the country's Education Minister, Julius Ogamba, said, according to AP.
According to media reports, the fire broke out in the Utumishi Girls Academy dormitory around 1 a.m., but the alarm was not raised until about 3:30 a.m., the Kenyan Red Cross said on X.
About 220 girls were sleeping in the dormitory where the fire broke out. The school is affiliated with the national police authority and is in an area with several army and training facilities.
The school is located around twelve kilometers north of the capital Nairobi, and many of the students' parents have now made their way to the site.
Kenya, where boarding schools are common, has suffered many devastating school fires in recent years.
