BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – At least seven children were killed in eastern Congo on Saturday after a fire broke out at camp for people displaced by flooding, local official Thomas Bakenga said.
Hundreds of families had been living in makeshift huts at the refuge in the town of Kalehe since May, when devastating floods destroyed their homes in the villages of Bushushu and Nyamukubi in South Kivu province.
The children killed in the fire were aged between one and five, while four adults were in a critical condition in hospital, Kalehe territorial administrator Bakenga told Reuters.
The deaths bring further tragedy to a community still grieving the loss of at least 460 people in the floods. Overall, close to 9,000 people were impacted by the disaster, which saw flood waters bury buildings in mud and cut off roads.
(Reporting by Crispin Kyala; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison Williams)
