Updated

More than 20 children died in the rebel-held eastern Congolese city of Bukavu after a fire engulfed two schools, triggering a deadly stampede as students tried to flee. Officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which occurred in a region already destabilized by ongoing conflict. Follow-up reporting has raised the confirmed death toll to 28 students, with homes across a neighbourhood also destroyed in the blaze. The tragedy has prompted widespread calls for school safety reforms in the DRC, as officials and advocates highlight the lack of fire safety infrastructure in the country's overcrowded, conflict-affected education system.