Seven girls died early Saturday when a fire gutted their dormitory at a high school in Nairobi, Kenya's education minister said.

The cause of the fire was not instantly known, the minister, Fred Matiangi, said.

Moi Girls High School will be closed for  weeks for an investigation.

"At 2 a.m., our matron came, telling us to get out of the hostel because there was fire in one of the hostels," Warda Sadique, a student, said.

The fire brought back memories of the deaths of 67 students in a dormitory fire at a high school in eastern Kenya in March 2001.

Last year, at least 126 high schools were struck by arson in what seemed to be protests by students over the shortening of holidays & the limiting of visits by parents.