By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman
BUKAVU, DRC — Bukavu is reeling from tragedy after a devastating fire left 29 students dead, several others injured and more than 50 homes destroyed in the capital of South Kivu Province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The fire struck on Thursday, September 10, 2026, engulfing the Furaha and Ujamaa primary schools in Bukavu’s densely populated Kadutu neighborhood. The disaster triggered panic as students desperately attempted to escape the flames.
Civil society groups and witnesses said many of the deaths occurred during a stampede as frightened students rushed to safety. Some children were reportedly knocked down and trampled as the fire spread through the area.
The bodies of the victims were taken to the morgue at Bukavu General Hospital, while others were transferred to the University Clinics. Several students who suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries were admitted to health facilities across the city.
Innocent Rukiko, a teacher at the Ujamaa school complex, described scenes of chaos as students struggled to escape. He said some teachers were also seriously injured in the disaster.
“There are even teachers who have been seriously injured. Among the students who died and those who were injured were those who weren’t able to run; some of them were climbing on top of others while they were running. Most of the students who died were young girls between the ages of 6 and 14,” Rukiko said.
He said many of the structures consumed by the flames were built largely of wood, making it easier for the fire to spread rapidly. Rukiko also confirmed that the rush to escape resulted in a major stampede, with some students trampling others amid the panic.
Christian Baguma, a civil society leader, visited the affected neighborhood and health facilities following the disaster to assess the scale of the destruction and the condition of survivors.
Beyond the immediate loss of life, the fire devastated the surrounding community, destroying more than 50 homes and leaving families facing the loss of property and shelter. The scale of the tragedy has renewed concerns about fire preparedness, emergency response capacity and urban planning in Bukavu and other rapidly growing Congolese cities.
Fires remain a recurring threat in several urban centers across the DRC, where densely packed neighborhoods, limited firefighting equipment, wooden structures and unsafe electrical connections can increase the risk of devastating outbreaks.
The Bukavu tragedy has consequently intensified calls for authorities to strengthen firefighting and civil protection services. Civil society actors have also urged greater enforcement of urban planning and housing standards, arguing that inadequate spacing between buildings and poorly regulated construction can make fires considerably more destructive.
The South Kivu provincial government has acknowledged shortcomings in the region’s capacity to respond effectively to fires. For civil society groups, however, the latest disaster demonstrates the need to move beyond emergency responses and address the structural conditions that continue to expose communities to preventable catastrophes.
The tragedy comes as authorities elsewhere in the country seek to strengthen firefighting capacity. During an official visit to Paris, Kinshasa Governor Daniel Bumba Lubaki announced on Friday, September 11, that 50 fire trucks are expected to arrive to reinforce civil protection capabilities across municipalities in the Congolese capital.
While that initiative is focused on Kinshasa, the deaths in Bukavu have underscored the urgency of improving fire prevention and emergency response capabilities beyond the capital, particularly in densely populated cities where emergency services remain limited.
For families in Bukavu, however, the immediate focus is on mourning the children whose lives were lost. What began as an ordinary school day ended in one of the city’s most painful recent tragedies, leaving grieving families, injured survivors and a community confronting difficult questions about whether stronger safety measures could have prevented such a heavy loss of life.
