AFRICA

Fire Destroys Displacement Camp In Eastern Congo, Leaving Dozens Homeless

A fire at the Muganga displaced people camp in eastern Congo has destroyed around 50 makeshift tents, leaving dozens of families without shelter. The United Nations reported that the fire is believed to have started during cooking activities on Wednesday.

Anne Marie Nikuze, a 60-year-old resident of the camp, shared her distress saying, “While I was trying to empty the house of my valuables, I couldn’t save my most precious items: my tokens to receive various humanitarian assistance. The little we had has also gone up in flames.”

Furaha Mulema Mariam, a 42-year-old mother of four, expressed relief that the fire occurred during the day: “The only luck is that it happened during the day, if it had been at night we would all be dead. We escaped the recent bomb attacks and now, it’s the fire that has struck us.”

The Muganga camp, located near the provincial capital Goma, has faced multiple hardships. In early May, the camp endured bomb attacks that killed at least 18 people and injured 32 others, most of whom were women and children. The type of explosives used in those attacks remains unclear.

This ongoing violence has displaced approximately 7 million people, many of whom reside in temporary camps like Muganga. Countless others remain beyond the reach of humanitarian aid, exacerbating the crisis.

Melissa Enoch