Kinshasa (AFP) – A fire and stampede at a school in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least 26 children, the UN children's agency said on Friday, with some pupils leaping from windows on high floors to escape the carnage.
Issued on: 12/09/2026 - 03:46
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The blaze in the city of Bukavu on Thursday began around 9:00 am (0700 GMT) while the children were in lessons, forcing some to try to escape by jumping from higher floors, a teacher told AFP."In the middle of class, I suddenly heard students screaming, some were jumping from the upper floors, and others were running away through the doors," Simon Kasamira, a teacher at Ujamaa primary school, told AFP at a clinic where he had been admitted.
The fire triggered a stampede as students struggled to escape © Jospin Mwisha / AFP
