Fire at Kinshasa Wedding Party Kills at Least 22

At least 22 people were killed and several others injured after a fire broke out at a wedding party in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a regional mayor said on Saturday. The fire started late Friday night and continued into the early hours of Saturday at a building in Lingwala, northern Kinshasa. The building’s narrow hallways became congested as people tried to escape the blaze, as cited by AP. Several victims, both alive and dead, were taken to the roadside as attendees attempted to help those who survived. Lingwala Mayor Norbert Mushinga told the Congolese Press Agency that the provisional death toll stood at 22, adding that it could rise further. The exact cause of the fire remained unconfirmed. “It is a tragedy,” Jacquemin Shabani, Congo’s deputy prime minister and interior minister, said. Shabani visited the site on Saturday morning. Deadly fires are common in densely populated parts of Kinshasa, where urban development often takes place without adequate fire services and other safety provisions. Local media reported that several fires have occurred in the city this year, particularly during the dry season.