By Emmanuel Nduka
The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Bukavu has held a mass funeral for 27 schoolchildren killed when a fire swept through two schools, triggering a deadly stampede as pupils scrambled to escape.
Hundreds of mourners, including grieving relatives, teachers, community members and officials of the administration controlling the city, gathered on Monday for the burial ceremony as the coffins of the victims were taken to the Ruzizi cemetery.
The tragedy occurred last Thursday when a fire broke out in a densely populated neighbourhood before spreading rapidly to nearby buildings, including Furaha Secondary School and Ujamaa Primary School.
The flames engulfed wooden structures in the area, trapping pupils inside the schools and forcing others to flee through crowded passages. Some children were reportedly suffocated or trampled in the ensuing chaos, while others attempted to escape through windows.
Local authorities said at least 27 pupils, including girls and boys, lost their lives in the disaster, while dozens of others were injured.
The fire also destroyed hundreds of homes in the neighbourhood, leaving families displaced and compounding the humanitarian difficulties facing residents of Bukavu.
At Monday’s funeral, relatives struggled to come to terms with the sudden loss of children who had left home for school only hours before the tragedy.
Teachers also recalled the terrifying scenes inside the schools, describing frantic attempts to lead pupils to safety as smoke and flames spread through the buildings.
One teacher, Alice Ambika Musafiri, said she was haunted by the voices of pupils crying for help as the stampede unfolded.
The tragedy has renewed concerns over fire safety, emergency preparedness and the vulnerability of densely populated neighbourhoods in Bukavu, where many homes are built close together with wooden materials.
Authorities have launched investigations into the circumstances surrounding the blaze, although the exact cause of the fire remains unknown.
Bukavu has been under the control of the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement since February 2025, amid a wider conflict in eastern DRC that has displaced millions of people and severely strained public services.
At the funeral, Corneille Nangaa, leader of the political-military Alliance Fleuve Congo, which includes M23, pledged measures aimed at improving the protection of schoolchildren and preventing similar disasters.
The burial brought the immediate tragedy into sharper focus for families who lost their children, while the wider community confronted the destruction left behind by a fire that claimed young lives and devastated an entire neighbourhood.
