At least 27 schoolchildren were killed in a stampede as they tried to escape a fire that swept through two schools in the rebel-held city of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, local authorities said.
The blaze began near a school in Kadutu, a densely populated neighbourhood overlooking the city, while children were in lessons.
It spread from nearby homes to two school complexes, causing pupils to panic as the flames approached. Some were trampled in the rush to escape.
"This was followed by a violent stampede that forced students to trample over one another or look for a dangerous way out; many of them fainted and others lost consciousness," local leader Patrice Buduge said.
Deadly stampede
The provisional toll was "more than 500 homes burned and 27 deaths", Buduge said. The cause of the fire is not known.
"Some climbed on top of others as they were running," Innocent Rukiko, a teacher at Ujamaa primary school, told RFI. "Most of the pupils who died were young girls aged between six and 14."
Teachers were also "seriously injured", he said.
Another teacher, Simon Kasamira, described hearing students screaming, while "some were jumping from the upper floors, and others were running away through the doors".
"Parents came from all over looking for their children," Kasamira told the French news agency AFP. "That's when I saw a huge fire engulfing our school built of wooden planks."
Search for children
Nsimire Rushuda had four children attending one of the schools.
"Two of my children are injured and I have not yet seen the other two," she said. "I'm staying hopeful that I'll find them because they weren't among those who were transferred to hospital. Everything has also burned down. We do not know where we will sleep."
Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, has been controlled since February 2025 by the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group after stepping up its campaign to take control of swathes of mineral-rich eastern DRC.
The M23 in a statement later reported a toll of "24 dead, including 19 girls and five boys", as well as "29 people receiving treatment in medical facilities".
The armed group has driven out the government administration and silenced civil society organisations in areas under its control.
Repeated fires
Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu, is known for its wooden houses built on hillsides, where deadly fires often break out. The main market in Kadutu was destroyed by fire a few days ago.
"What hurts me so much is seeing little children who came to school alive going home as corpses," teacher Imani Munganga Lumière, who knew most of the pupils, told RFI.
"It hurts me as a teacher to see little children I taught. This situation with fires really has to stop!"
Congolese cities largely lack firefighting equipment, while specialists say fires are often caused by a lack of space between buildings and illegal connections to the power grid.
Last week, a fire at a wedding in the capital Kinshasa killed 12 people.
(with newswires)
