Congo-Kinshasa

A tragic incident unfolded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), resulting in the loss of at least 129 lives during a botched prison break. According to Congolese Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani, a grim tally indicates that 24 individuals were shot after warnings were issued. Yet, the death toll wasn't solely due to gunfire; many perished from being crushed or suffocated in the chaos. In the aftermath, at least 59 individuals sustained injuries and required medical attention, and reports surfaced of several women…

Mpox, a virus that has caused a considerable stir, has seen a worrying uptick in cases across the African continent. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) finds itself at the heart of this growing crisis. As of January 2024, a staggering 3,800 confirmed cases have been reported, cutting across 15 nations, with DR Congo bearing the brunt— over 90% of these infections are within its borders. This alarming situation has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to ring the alarm bells. They've labeled this…

At least 60 people died after a freight train derailed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an official said on Saturday. The accident occurred late on Friday in Lubudi's territory in Lualaba province. "Preliminary assessment indicates that seven bodies were found by the families, 53 others are still at the scene of the accident," Jean-Serge Lumu, a provincial official, told reporters. Many of the injured, including a child under the age of 2 whose parents died in the accident, were taken to the…

At least 10 people have been killed in a night attack on the city of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) when the civil society group and a monitoring body blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the refusal. Residents said a group of assailants had set fire to several houses in the middle of the night in the city's Beu district, shooting at people as they left the buildings and attacking some with machetes. The raid took place just four days after the city, home to…

Families fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Goma after forecasts of another volcanic eruption are starving and unable to find protection when the UN called for help and warned of the risk of cholera. At least 31 people died when Mount Nyiragongo sent a lava wall that spread to Goma on Saturday last week, destroying 3,000 homes along the road and hijacking a major road used to help the war-torn region. The lava stopped just outside the city limits, but thousands more fled early on…

Nearly 400,000 people fled the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's city of Goma after the government issued an evacuation order for fear of a new eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano, local authorities said on Friday. "80,000 households, equivalent to about 400,000 inhabitants, left the city of Goma on Thursday," they said in a report on an emergency meeting on the situation. Tens of thousands of people flocked out of the city on Thursday, suffocating highways in response to the "preventive"…

An earthquake measuring 5.3 on Rwanda's seismic monitor hit the border with Congo and Rwanda on Tuesday. Several buildings collapsed in the city of Goma, raising fears that a nearby volcano would erupt again three days after dozens of people were killed and 17 villages destroyed by lava. The quake was the largest of more than 100 quakes that followed the eruption of the Congolese volcano Nyiragongo on Saturday, one of the world's most active and dangerous. "We know that children were injured when a…

Five people were found suffocated to death on toxic fumes from the volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's volcano Nyiragongo on Monday, when strong aftershocks shook the city of Goma. The death toll is 20 the number killed since Africa's most active volcano erupted on Saturday, spewing red-hot melted lava that engulfed houses in its wake. "We have just discovered five dead people," civilian leader Mambo Kawaya told Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying they were "suffocated by the…

Thousands have fled the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) when a river of boiling lava mercifully stopped on the outskirts of Goma on Sunday, saving the city in the east of the country from disaster. Fire and strong fumes originated from the black-melted cliff when it engulfed houses, on its way to Goma Airport on Lake Kivu, says a correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP). But the military governor of northern Kivu province said the "city was spared" after…

Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, suddenly became active on Saturday, spraying red smoke into the night sky, news agencies reported. "I can see high lava fountains and I think it is likely that it will be in Goma very soon," says volcanologist Dario Tedesco. "Currently, people are not evacuating." Power was cut in the city and despite this statement, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that some residents were starting to leave their homes and on their way to the nearby border…