People grieve during the funeral for victims of a recent fire, in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sept. 14, 2026. (Str/Xinhua)
BUKAVU, DR Congo, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Bukavu, a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was in mourning Monday as thousands of residents gathered to bid farewell to victims of a devastating fire that struck a densely populated neighborhood last week.
Silence, tears and grief marked the arrival of bereaved families at a memorial ceremony in the city, where 28 coffins were laid side by side before the victims were taken to their final resting place.
According to those currently in control of the city, the buried included 26 students and two teachers who died after the fire swept through a densely populated neighbourhood crowded with households and schools.
From early morning, large crowds filled roads leading to Alfajiri College, where families, teachers, students and residents gathered for a final farewell. Shops and markets in parts of Bukavu closed during the morning as residents joined the mourning.
For the families, the ceremony brought an unbearable finality to days of shock.
Mwamini Mubwirana, whose family lost children in the fire, said they had left home that morning as they did every school day. "They went out in the morning to go to school because they loved studying so much. They never missed even a single day of school and would refuse to stay at home," she told Xinhua.
"I am very sad. I lack the words to express my pain. These children were pearls of the family. Until now, I still cannot understand their deaths."
At the cemetery, rows of coffins were placed before the graves as inconsolable relatives looked on. Red Cross teams carried them one by one toward the burial sites. Some family members stood silently. Others broke down in tears as the coffins were lowered into the ground.
Anny Badari came to bury her younger sister Bernadette. "We are very sad to have lost our little sister Bernadette," she said. "She was greatly loved because she was always making people laugh, but today we have lost her."
The fire broke out last Thursday, destroying two schools and hundreds of homes in an area where houses are tightly packed together and many are built with highly flammable materials.
Different casualty figures have since been reported by various authorities. Earlier local reports had put the death toll at 29 students, while the authorities administering Bukavu said 28 victims -- 26 students and two teachers -- were buried during Monday's ceremony.
A day after the disaster, Xinhua reporters saw blackened walls, homes reduced to ashes, sheets of metal twisted by the heat and personal belongings scattered among the debris.
On one wall in the devastated neighborhood, 10 photographs from the same family had been placed side by side. Residents stopped before them, exchanging a few words in low voices or simply staring silently at the faces of those who had died.
For residents, the tragedy has been particularly painful because so many of the victims were children who had gone to school only hours before the blaze.
Fires are not uncommon in Bukavu, where rapid urban growth, densely packed housing, narrow access roads and the widespread use of wooden and other combustible building materials have long increased the risk of major fires. But residents interviewed by Xinhua said they could not remember another blaze that had claimed the lives of so many schoolchildren.
"Bukavu may have long been used to fires. We have seen many of them. But Bukavu had never lost so many innocent children in a fire, especially schoolchildren," Bashengzei Chrispin, whose home was destroyed, told Xinhua after the disaster.
According to accounts collected after the fire, the two schools were full of students when the flames spread through the neighborhood. Panic broke out as children tried to flee and parents and residents rushed toward the schools. One teacher interviewed by Xinhua said around 900 students were at the two schools at the time.
Serge Chirimwami, a teacher at Furaha Primary School, recalled the chaos as the flames approached. "Most of the students died in the panic while they were inside the school and the gate was closed," he said. "By the time the teacher arrived, it was already too late for them."
The March 23 Movement rebel group, which has controlled Bukavu since February 2025, declared three days of mourning across South Kivu Province last Friday following the tragedy.
The M23 has also temporarily prohibited new construction on the disaster site and said an assessment committee would be established, pledging to continue investigations to determine the exact cause and circumstances of the fire. ■
