A mother and her eight children were among the 14 people killed when fire swept through Bukavu overnight on October 26, 2025. Another woman died with her four children. Twelve of the victims were children.
The blaze struck the Mosala neighbourhood in the city’s Kadutu commune. Radio Okapi placed it near Funu Nuru church on Maendeleo avenue. Mosala leader Patrick Lubala identified the two families to AFP, and both the South Kivu authorities and officials installed by M23 confirmed the same death toll.
Nobody had established what started the fire. Elisha Matabaro, 36, told AFP that residents were alerted around midnight and that the flames began in a wooden house.
Houses pulled down to stop the flames
Radio Okapi reported that seven houses burned completely. Residents demolished four more in an effort to deny the fire a path through the densely built neighbourhood. Red Cross volunteers and young people from the area later searched the debris and recovered bodies.
Survivor Patrick Gedeon told Africa Eye, “I heard noises, woke up, and saw the fire.” He escaped, then returned to find that neighbours had died.
Olivier Bangalwa described people becoming trapped above the flames. “When I saw the staircase in flames, they could no longer flee,” he said.
The fire left survivors with little more than whatever they could carry. Jean-Buhendwa Musole saved several belongings even though his house burned down. Others appealed for government help. “We have nothing left,” resident Ngwabuluka Jean said. M23 pledged to arrange dignified burials.
A familiar danger in Bukavu
Former city civil-protection coordinator Maitre Adolphe Bandeke called the disaster part of a “long series of blazes.” He blamed buildings constructed too close together and illegal electricity connections. Africa Eye also reported longstanding concerns about unregulated construction and unsafe wiring in the working-class district.
Radio Okapi documented another deadly fire only a week earlier. Three children from one family died in Nyalukemba, on Kayabu 2 avenue, and six homes were destroyed. Residents trying to contain that blaze were hampered by the proximity of the buildings and a lack of fire engines.
Such conditions turn a single burning house into a neighbourhood emergency. Bukavu had also been under M23 control since the beginning of 2025, adding a divided administration to the difficulties facing residents seeking assistance.
Musole stood with his family beside the ashes of their home after escaping unharmed. His immediate concern was shelter: “We don’t know where to go, especially in this rainy season.”
Sources
- DRC: Fire in Bukavu kills 14, devastates neighborhood – Africa Eye
- Mother, her 8 children among 14 people killed in eastern DRC fire – TRT Afrika
