Key facts
- A fire at a school in Bukavu killed at least 17 people.
- The victims included children.
- The fire occurred on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
- Bukavu is controlled by the M23 rebel group.
- The cause of the fire is unknown.
- The death toll is provisional.
A fire at a school in Bukavu, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo controlled by the M23 rebel group, resulted in at least 17 fatalities, including children, according to medical sources and local media reports. The incident occurred on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
Xinhua reported that at least 15 students were killed and several others seriously injured in fires that broke out in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province. The victims were students from the Ujamaa and Furaah schools, who died in a stampede while attempting to escape the flames. Several individuals were treated for smoke inhalation, with some in serious condition. The cause of the fires remains unknown, and the death toll is considered provisional.
TRT Africa reported a different figure, stating that 14 people were killed, including 12 children, in a fire that raged overnight on Sunday to Monday in the Mosala neighborhood of Bukavu's Kadutu commune. This report identified victims including a mother and her eight children, and another woman with her four children. The South Kivu authorities, appointed by the Congolese government, confirmed the toll, as did the authorities installed by M23.
Digitalcongo.net reported that the fire on Thursday, September 10, 2026, in Kasheke, Bukavu, caused a stampede among students from the Ujamaa and Furaah schools, leading to 15 deaths and several injuries. The exact circumstances of the fire are under investigation.
Previous fires in Bukavu include one on Sunday, September 6, in Nyamugo, which destroyed over 45 houses, and another on September 8 in Irambo II, which caused at least one death and left families homeless. Maitre Adolphe Bandeke, former Bukavu civil protection coordinator, attributed such incidents to a lack of proper building distancing and illegal power grid connections.