Over 100 women prisoners were raped and then burned alive during a jailbreak in the city of Goma, according to the UN. The incident occurred when hundreds of prisoners escaped from Munzenze prison after the M23 rebel group took control of the city.
An internal UN document obtained by the BBC indicates that 165 to 167 women were assaulted by male inmates during the jailbreak, and most of them were killed when the prisoners set fire to the prison. The BBC has not confirmed these reports.
Goma, a city with a population of over a million, fell to the Rwanda-backed M23 forces after a swift advance through eastern DR Congo. The city descended into chaos with reports of bodies in the streets and missiles flying over residential areas.
Video footage from the escape depicted individuals fleeing the building amid rising smoke, accompanied by intense gunfire. The M23's clashes with Congolese forces and their allies resulted in over 2,000 reported deaths according to DR Congo's government, while the UN cites at least 900 fatalities and nearly 3,000 injuries, highlighting discrepancies in death tolls between the two sources.
Although the rebels declared a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, they resumed hostilities with an attack on Nyabibwe, a mining town located about 100 km (60 miles) from Bukavu, the second-largest city in the eastern region. In response, Congolese authorities have mobilized civilian volunteers to safeguard Bukavu.
Stephan Goetghbuer, a regional leader at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), expressed concerns about the dire situation, stating, Access to water has been disrupted for days, bodies are strewn in the streets, and waterborne diseases like cholera pose a grave risk. Some of our cholera treatment facilities are at capacity and have been expanded.