MONUSCO, the U.N. peacekeeping force in the DRC, said the reported killings were under investigation but remained unverified.

The number of people killed in Goma and its surroundings in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has exceeded 8,500 since January, when M23 rebels intensified fighting with government forces and captured the city, authorities said Thursday. Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said more than 5,700 wounded have been recorded.

An unknown disease that poses a ‘significant public health threat’ has already killed more than 50 people. The disease started on January 21 in the village of Boloko, in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), after three children ate a dead bat, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa office.

A statement issued by the Education Ministry indicated that 1,483 schools have been closed in North Kivu province while 1,111 are closed in South Kivu province, affecting 1.1 million children.

More than 50 people have died in two clusters of unknown illnesses in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo, global health authorities said.

Health experts say an unknown illness first discovered in three children who ate a bat has rapidly killed more than 50 people.

The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass