Wedding Party Fire in Kinshasa Kills at Least 22
A fire at a wedding party in Kinshasa, Congo, killed at least 22 people and injured others, officials said Saturday.
At least 22 people died when a fire swept through a building hosting a wedding party in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to local officials.
The blaze broke out late Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday in the Lingwala district in the northern part of the city. Several other people were injured in the incident.
Lingwala's mayor, Norbert Mushinga, told the Congolese Press Agency that the provisional death toll stands at 22, warning that the number could rise as the search and rescue efforts continue.
The exact cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed. Congo's Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Jacquemin Shabani, visited the site on Saturday morning and described the event as "a tragedy."
Deadly fires are a recurring problem in Kinshasa's densely populated neighborhoods, where rapid urban growth has outpaced the provision of basic services such as firefighting. Such incidents are particularly frequent during the dry season, and local media have reported several major fires in the city this year.