DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A fire at a displacement camp in eastern Congo destroyed about 50 makeshift tents Wednesday afternoon, leaving dozens of families without shelter, according to the United Nations. A UN spokesman said the fire was believed to have started during cooking at a camp.
The Muganga displacement camp, near the provincial capital Goma, had already been hit by bomb attacks in early May that killed at least 18 people and injured 32 others, he said. It was not clear what type of explosives were used in those attacks. Most of the victims were women and children.
“While trying to empty the house of my valuables, I was unable to keep my most precious items: my tokens to receive various humanitarian aids,” said Anne Marie Nikuze, 60, a displaced person who lives in the camp with her children and grandchildren. she told the Associated Press. “What little we had also caught fire,” she said.
“We escaped the recent bomb attacks and now the fire has hit us.” Furaha Mulema Mariam, 42, mother of four, said. “The only luck is that it happened during the day, if it had happened at night we would all be dead.”
The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 100 armed groups fighting in the region, most over land and control of mines containing valuable minerals. Some are fighting to try to protect their communities. Many groups are accused of carrying out mass murders, rapes and other human rights violations.
The violence has displaced around 7 million people, including thousands living in temporary camps like the one that was attacked last month. Many others are beyond the reach of help.
