School fire in rebel-held Bukavu kills at least 17

A fire at a school in Bukavu, a city in eastern Congo controlled by the Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebel alliance, killed at least 17 people, including children, according to local and medical sources. A witness said 17 bodies were loaded into an ambulance, while a hospital reported admitting more than 50 students, 14 of whom died. The cause of the fire remains unclear, and the rebel alliance’s coordinator put the provisional death toll at about 10 pending further confirmation. The disaster has intensified concerns about civilian safety in the conflict-affected city.