26 dead in DR Congo school fire stampede

Schoolchildren in uniform walk past burned houses on their way to school, one day after a deadly fire in Cimpunda, in the Kadutu commune of Bukavu, on September 11, 2026. Photo: AFP

At least 26 children died in a fire and stampede at a school in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN children’s agency said on Friday.

The blaze in the city of Bukavu on Thursday began around 9:00 am (0700 GMT) while the children were in lessons, triggering a desperate stampede as students struggled to escape.

Another 25 children were injured, UNICEF said in a statement.

Bukavu, a major city and the capital of South Kivu province, has been controlled since February 2025 by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group after it stepped up a campaign to seize swathes of mineral-rich eastern DRC.

M23 on Friday declared three days of mourning amid an emotional response to the tragedy from around the country.

Funerals for the victims are expected to be held on Saturday.

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Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu, is known for its wooden houses built on hillsides, where deadly fires often break out.

Thursday’s blaze devastated a wide, densely built area on such a slope, leaving residents to pick through the debris of charred houses, strewn with crumpled sheets of metal.

Blazes are common in Congolese cities, which largely lack firefighting equipment, and are often caused by a lack of spacing between buildings and illegal connections to the power grid, specialists say.

Last week, a fire at a wedding in the capital, Kinshasa, killed 12 people, while another blaze in October killed 14 people, mostly children, in Bukavu.

AFP

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