At least 22 people were killed in a fire at a wedding party in Congo’s capital, the regional mayor said Saturday.
Several other people were injured in the fire that started Friday night and continued into early Saturday morning in a building in Lingwala in northern Kinshasa.
Several people — some alive and some dead — were laid by the roadside as attendees tried to help the ones who were still alive. The narrow hallways were constricted with people trying to escape the fire.
The mayor of Lingwala, Norbert Mushinga, told the Congolese Press Agency that the provisional death toll is 22, which he noted could rise further.
The exact cause of the fire is unconfirmed. “It is a tragedy,” said Jacquemin Shabani, Congo’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, who visited the site Saturday morning.
Deadly fires are common in densely populated areas of Kinshasa where urban development is not complemented with provisions such as fire services. The fires are common during the dry season and several have occurred this year, according to local media.
Mwanamilongo writes for the Associated Press.
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