Hundreds of Women Raped, Burned to Death After Prison in Congo Set on Fire: UN Official

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa

AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa

“There was a major prison breakout of 4,000 escaped prisoners,” Vivian van de Perre, a senior United Nations official, toldThe Guardianin a story published on Feb. 5. “A few hundred women were also in that prison. They were all raped and then they set fire to the women’s wing. They all died afterwards.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

According to theAssociated Press, the militant group declared a ceasefire this week while Congo’s government deemed that announcement as “false communication,” citing ongoing violence. The fighting in Goma has claimed the lives of at least 900 people, the U.N. health agency said, per the AP.

The UN said in apress statementon Feb. 4 that thousands of people have been displaced as a result of the violence and called for the reopening of the city’s airport to “facilitate evacuation of injured people, delivery of medical supplies and arrival of humanitarian reinforcements.”

source: people.com