Hospitals overwhelmed while thousands uprooted as Congo M23 rebels near Goma in major advance

Record ID: 1952747

  • Title: Hospitals overwhelmed while thousands uprooted as Congo M23 rebels near Goma in major advance
  • Date: 23rd January 2025
  • Summary: GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (JANUARY 23, 2025) (REUTERS) CARDIAC MONITOR SCREEN IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM IN A HOSPITAL IN GOMA INJURED PERSONS LYING IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE CHECKING A VICTIM'S VITAL SIGNS NURSE DRAWING BLOOD FROM A CHILD A WOMAN WHO LOST ONE OF HER CHILDREN CRYING OVER HER SON WHO GOT INJURED DURING AN EXPLOSION VARIOUS OF INJURED WOMAN, JEANNETTE N
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2025 16:14
  • Keywords: Central africa Congo DRC Peace Rwanda conflict east africa fardc kagame law m23 military rebel security unrest war west africa
  • Location: GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • City: GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
  • Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
  • Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA001573023012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Bethesda hospital in Goma was overwhelmed on Thursday (January 23) as casualties from the ongoing M23 rebel offensive continue to grow, with victims recounting harrowing tales of survival. Medical staff struggled to cope with the influx, thus setting up emergency tents around the hospital premises to accommodate the wounded.
    A survivor, Jeannette Neema Matondo described how a bomb struck her group as they fled the besieged town of Mubambiro. "Everyone around me was dead, crushed like meat," she said. Matondo also lost two children in the explosion.
    The M23 is the latest in a series of groups of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgents to rise up against Congolese forces. The group, named after the March 23 date of a 2009 accord that ended a previous Tutsi-led revolt, accuses the government of not living up to the peace deal to fully integrate Congolese Tutsis into the army and administration.
    After seizing the town of Minova on Tuesday (January 21), M23 fighters have continued their offensive, moving into the town of Sake, around 20 km (12 miles) from Goma. A local administrator and the head of a civil society group said there were clashes with the army on Thursday morning.
    Meanwhile, fear of further rebel advances has gripped Goma’s residents, prompting many shopkeepers to shutdown their businesses. Marketplaces that were once bustling now stand deserted, as uncertainty over the rebels’ next move paralyzes economic activity.
    (Production: Djaffar El Katanty, Ngouda Dione)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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