Members of the Congolese Red Cross and volunteers carry victims of the recent conflict before burying them in a cemetery in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Goma, Eastern D.R Congo, February 5 — People in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Goma rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week’s battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease amid a ceasefire.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who captured Goma, declared a ceasefire on Monday and largely upheld it, though some residents reported sporadic shooting and looting on Tuesday.
People in the city took stock of bombed-out buildings and tried to clear overflowing morgues. More than 2,000 bodies of people killed in last week’s conflict require burial in Goma, the DRC’s communications minister said overnight.
The United Nations said at least 900 people were killed and almost 3,000 injured in the days of fighting in Goma leading up to its capture.
The scale of the civilian harm was still emerging with reports of people caught in the crossfire, overwhelmed hospitals and bodies left in the street.
Days without power last week affected refrigeration at morgues, leading to a “race against time” to identify bodies, said Myriam Favier, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross sub-delegation in Goma.
“The land where bodies can be buried in Goma is extremely limited,” she added.
