BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Hundreds of mourners gathered around rows of coffins in Bukavu on Monday, September 14, for a mass funeral honoring 26 children killed when a fire reached two primary schools and triggered a deadly stampede.
Families and other mourners assembled in the South Kivu provincial capital, with some relatives holding photographs of the victims, according to Africanews, which documented the funeral. The ceremony came four days after the September 10 fire in the densely populated Chimpunda neighborhood.
The blaze affected the adjacent Furaha and Ujamaa primary schools in the Funu area of Kadutu commune. The Associated Press reported that the fire swept through both schools, killing at least 26 students.
UNICEF said at least 26 children died and another 25 were injured. The injured pupils were receiving medical care, the United Nations agency said.
Reports from the disaster indicated that some children were trampled as pupils tried to flee, while others died from asphyxiation. Authorities have not released a complete account establishing the individual cause of death for every victim.
The mass funeral brought families together publicly after days of mourning and uncertainty. Africanews reported that hundreds attended as relatives gathered near the coffins and remembered children from the two schools.
In a statement issued on September 11 and attributed to John Agbor, UNICEF’s representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the agency said: “UNICEF is deeply saddened and alarmed by the recent fire in Bukavu, South Kivu.”
UNICEF described the incident as having a devastating effect on children and their families. Its confirmed toll underscored the scale of the loss among pupils at Furaha and Ujamaa, while the number of injured children raised further concerns about the longer-term needs of survivors.
Cause remains under investigation
As of the day of the funeral, the cause of the fire had not been established. The Congolese Ministry of Education called for the circumstances surrounding the disaster, as well as its cause, to be determined rigorously and independently.
That inquiry is expected to examine how the fire reached the school buildings and the conditions that led to the fatal rush to escape. No official conclusion had been announced by September 14.
The fire also affected the surrounding neighborhood, but reliable reports provided conflicting figures for the number of homes damaged or destroyed. A precise total has therefore not been confirmed.
The location of the schools in Chimpunda, a heavily populated part of Bukavu, placed the emergency within a crowded residential area. The available accounts establish that the fire spread to the two neighboring schools, where panic among pupils contributed to the death toll.
Burial scheduled after the disaster
Patrick Busubwangwi, the governor serving under the AFC/M23 administration, had announced that the children would be buried on Monday, September 14, according to a September 12 report by Actualite.cd. Africanews subsequently reported from the funeral, confirming that the ceremony took place as scheduled.
The funeral focused attention on the young victims and the families left behind. Images from the gathering showed mourners assembled beside the coffins in a collective farewell to children from both primary schools.
The deaths have also prompted questions about safety and emergency preparedness in schools and densely settled communities. However, officials had not publicly detailed any findings about responsibility, fire prevention measures or evacuation procedures by the time of the burial.
With 25 children injured in addition to those killed, the consequences of the September 10 disaster continued beyond Monday’s ceremony. Medical care for survivors was ongoing, while families, school communities and residents awaited the results of an investigation into how the blaze began and why it became so deadly.
