Death toll more than 200 in Congo landslide

Searchers have recovered more than 170 bodies from the rubble of a landslide last week in the fishing village of Tora, where the death toll is expected to be over 200.

East Congo Bishop Gabriel Unda asked for prayers for the victims and survivors in the province of Ituri, where the village is located.

"I also ask for a mobilization of the whole community as one body to assist these victims because their first refuge is us, the church,” he said.  

The bishop said the conference had committed this year to planting churches throughout the province.

The village, located more than 60 kilometers from Bunia on the shores of Lake Albert, has about 50 families. The village has an intensive fishing business due to the large amount of fish coming from the lake.

Oudo Manda, a provincial tax collector in the region of Ituri, said villagers heard unusual noises and thought they came from fishermen out on the lake at night. “Suddenly, we heard noises like gunshots, but it was actually big stones from the mountain that broke and collapsed on people’s houses and on merchants who spent the night outside,” he said.

Searchers are hampered by the difficulty of breaking up or moving the large rocks.

The Rev. Chapel Lokalé, pastor of the church in nearby Mungwalu, said two traders who are members of the church are missing and asked for a prayer for them.

Earlier this month, a mudslide in a Freetown, Sierra Leone, suburb killed nearly 500 people. 

Yanga is director of communications for the East Congo Episcopal Area. News media contact: Vicki Brown, (615) 742-470 or [email protected].

To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.


Like what you're reading? Support the ministry of UM News! Your support ensures the latest denominational news, dynamic stories and informative articles will continue to connect our global community. Make a tax-deductible donation at ResourceUMC.org/GiveUMCom.

Sign up for our newsletter!

Subscribe Now
Social Concerns
An instructor and student share a teaching microscope at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe, in 2017. File photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.

USAID freeze strikes Africa University

United Methodist-related Africa University is among the institutions struggling as employees with jobs funded by the United States Agency for International Development stop getting paychecks.
Violence
At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, have been killed in fighting in Goma, Congo, between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels. The security situation has continued to deteriorate since the M23’s major offensive on Jan. 23. Image courtesy of Google Maps.

United Methodists killed in Congo conflict

At least 100 people, including eight United Methodists, were killed in fighting in Goma between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels.
Disaster Relief
Women receive food during a distribution operation in Beni, Congo. With a United Methodist Committee on Relief grant, more than 125 tons of food rations, hygiene products and other supplies were distributed to families who fled their homes due to unrest in the country. Photo courtesy of the East Congo Episcopal Area disaster management office.

Church responds to humanitarian crisis in Congo

With financial support from UMCOR, more than 12,000 people displaced by conflict received food and other needed supplies.

United Methodist Communications is an agency of The United Methodist Church

©2025 United Methodist Communications. All Rights Reserved