Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo says that at least 13 mourners including nine children were killed when a soldier opened fire on people who gathered to mourn on Saturday night.
The incident occurred in the village of Nyakova on the banks of Lake Albert in Congo’s eastern Ituri province.
“The soldier opened fire on all those around him. A dozen people died,” Ituri army spokesman Jules Ngongo said via telephone.
Search teams are looking for the soldier, a member of Congo’s navy, and an investigation into the incident has been opened, he said.
13 mourners, including nine children, were reportedly killed, according to village chairman Oscar Baraka Muguwa.
The Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a respected conflict monitor, confirmed the incident and said the death toll included “10 children and two women who were said to have taken part in the funeral of his son, who died in his absence”.
Bahati Franck, leader of a local youth association told newsmen that 13 people had been killed at point-blank range “including nine children, who died on the spot”.
According to a different local authority, the fourteenth victim passed away on Sunday morning as a result of his wounds.
A large portion of eastern DRC has been plagued by armed groups for decades as a result of local conflicts that erupted in the 1990s and 2000s.