A stampede after a fire broke out in a school in the eastern DR Congo city of Bukavu has killed at least 14 children, local and health sources said on Thursday.
A blaze of “unknown” origins began near a school in the Bagira district on the city’s northern outskirts early on Thursday “while the children were in the middle of class”, local leader Patrice Buduge told AFP.
“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,” he said.
He said the provisional toll was “more than 500 homes burned and 27 deaths”.
AFP was not able to independently verify the toll with other official sources.
