A wedding party in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, turned into a bloody tragedy, after a fire broke out inside a celebration hall, killing at least 22 people, while local authorities warned of the possibility of the death toll rising as census operations and treatment of the injured continued.
The fire occurred on Friday night and continued until the early hours of Saturday morning inside a building in the Lingwala area, north of Kinshasa, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries amid a state of chaos and panic inside the hall.
According to witnesses and scenes from the site, a large number of attendees tried to escape through narrow corridors, while some victims were placed on the side of the road and those who could be rescued were treated at the scene before the injured were transferred for treatment.
Lingwala Mayor Norbert Muchinga told the Congolese News Agency that the initial toll was 22 dead, indicating that the number may rise as verification of the number of victims is completed.
The causes of the fire have not yet been determined, while Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jacquemin Chabani described the incident as a “tragedy,” after visiting the fire site on Saturday morning.
Deadly fires are frequent incidents in crowded areas in Kinshasa, where rapid urbanization is accompanied by a lack of emergency and fire services, which increases the risk of any fire inside closed buildings or crowded places.
During the dry season, the Congolese capital also witnesses an increase in the number of fires, while local media recorded several similar incidents during the current year, in light of challenges related to infrastructure and public safety.
