The city of Bukavu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has been gripped by immense grief following a nighttime fire of unprecedented violence. Fourteen people from two families lost their lives in the working-class neighborhood of Funu on Sunday night.

The fire broke out around midnight, transforming the night into a burning nightmare. The source of the blaze remains unclear, adding to the general dismay. Monday morning, the atmosphere at the scene of the tragedy was heavy. A pungent odor and suffocating sadness enveloped the neighborhood.

Amid the smoking ruins, Red Cross volunteers and local youths worked with poignant delicacy. They extracted the charred bodies of the victims, most of them women and children, and lined them up, covered in body bags. An unbearable spectacle that testified to the scale of the tragedy.

Patrick Gedeon, a survivor, recounted, his voice breaking, the blaze's lightning speed: "When I heard noises, I woke up to go check what had happened. I saw fire and managed to escape. When I came back, I saw that 14 people were dead." Olivier Bangalwa, another witness, described his helplessness in the face of the flames: "When I saw the staircase catch fire, those upstairs no longer had the possibility of escaping. Afterwards, the fire rose towards the roof structure, there was a lot of heat that killed those who were trapped."

The fire left behind several homes reduced to blackened skeletons.

This tragedy highlights, once again, the alarming recurrence of fires in Bukavu. These scourges are often exacerbated by rapid urbanization and uncontrolled construction, where safety standards—including poor electrical installations and the lack of fireproof materials—are too often neglected, transforming modest homes into death traps.

Amid the devastation, Ngwabuluka Jean, a victim who lost everything, made a heartfelt appeal for solidarity: "We have lost a lot and we are crying. Our concern is that the government helps us and comes to our aid, because we have nothing left."

This tragedy is a wake-up call for the DRC, highlighting the urgent need for preventive measures and improved home security in this city of more than 3 million people. The already precarious security situation in Bukavu, controlled by the AFC-M23 rebels since early February 2025, adds to the complexity of the situation. The rebels have nevertheless promised a decent burial for the victims, offering little comfort to the bereaved families.