Hundreds of people gathered Monday at a mass funeral in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province in eastern Congo, to mourn 27 young victims of a fire that engulfed two adjacent schools last week. Families wept as officials laid wreaths and delivered speeches.
The fire, which occurred on Thursday, began in a house before spreading to the two adjoining schools, according to local neighborhood administrator Moïse Lubala. He stated that students were trapped inside Furaha secondary school and some suffocated. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but the densely populated area features wooden houses.
Medical staff struggled to account for all the injured due to the large number of casualties. Among those mourning was Annunciat Kujirabwinja Zagabe, who came to say goodbye to her 13-year-old grandson. "I am in such deep distress. I remember his journey through school up to the eighth grade without ever failing a single year, and now, he has died just like that, without even falling ill," she said, her voice breaking.
Alice Ambika Musafiri, a teacher at one of the schools, recalled the harrowing moments of the fire, haunted by the children's cries for help. "Ma’am, I’m being trampled!" she remembered them shouting. "My children, I had no way to save you. I lacked the strength; that is why I saved who I could," she told the Associated Press, visibly overcome with emotion.
Bukavu has been under the control of M23 rebels since February 2025. The Congolese government faces challenges in asserting authority in the eastern part of the country, where over 100 armed groups are active, vying for control of valuable mineral resources.
Corneille Nangaa, leader of the political-military coalition Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes M23, pledged to implement measures to protect schoolchildren from future fires. "As residents of Bukavu in particular — and of the DRC in general — let us resolve, starting today, to take a stand and make the decision to limit such damage through our own actions," he said at the funeral.