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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: Death toll from Bunia fighting rises
KINSHASA, 22 May 2003 (IRIN) - A grave containing at least 30 bodies has been found in Bunia, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, told IRIN on Thursday. The discovery takes to just over 300 the number of people killed in recent ethnic fighting in the town.
A spokeswoman for MONUC, Isabelle Abric, said the bodies were found in a water reservoir in a district of Bunia. "The bodies are in such a bad state it is impossible to identify them," she said.
The Red Cross and MONUC, she said, were trying to retrieve the bodies. She said Red Cross volunteers had found a further seven bodies in the streets of Bunia. The UN has said that most of the victims of the fighting between Hema and Lendu militias in Bunia appeared to be civilians, including children.
Fighting stopped following the signing of a ceasefire agreement signed on Friday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by militia representatives. However, the UN reports the situation in Bunia is still tense.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict
[ENDS]
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