A pre-dawn landslide triggered by hours of intense rainfall struck the village of Burutsi in North Kivu province early Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and leaving more than 30 others missing, local authorities said. The disaster has also severed a critical road corridor linking the regional hub of Goma with Walikale, complicating rescue operations and delaying government response.
The landslide occurred at about 1 a.m., when many residents were asleep. Witnesses and local officials described a sudden collapse of a hillside that swept into homes and buried sections of the settlement. “Nature acted terribly, and the entire hillside collapsed into the village of Burutsi while … people were asleep,” Descarte Akilimali, the sector chief for the area, told The Associated Press.
Local administrators said they have appealed for assistance but face serious logistical hurdles due to the road closure — a major constraint in a province where emergency services and heavy equipment are limited even in normal conditions. Search efforts were continuing as communities attempted to locate survivors and recover bodies from mud and debris.
The landslide adds a new layer of hardship to a region already destabilized by longstanding conflict. Eastern Congo has been gripped for decades by fighting involving government forces and a mosaic of armed groups, with violence and displacement repeatedly disrupting access to health care, transport and basic services.
Walikale, the provincial capital referenced by officials as a key point on the cut road, has remained insecure following offensives by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The group’s resurgence in recent years has escalated the conflict and worsened humanitarian pressures across North Kivu and neighboring provinces.
Analysts and humanitarian agencies say the broader conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo — where more than 100 armed groups operate — has produced one of the world’s gravest displacement crises, with over 7 million people forced from their homes nationwide.
Authorities have not yet issued a final casualty figure, warning that numbers could rise as searches continue and as access improves once the blocked road is reopened.
