At least 24 schoolchildren have died in a stampede as they tried to flee a fire that engulfed two schools in rebel-held eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials have said.

The blaze broke out in the densely populated Kadutu commune of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, also destroying approximately 300 houses. Rebel-appointed authorities released the provisional toll of 24 children on Thursday evening, noting that adults are also reported to have died and warning that the overall death toll could rise further.

We previously reported that at least 26 students had died in the fire. The updated provisional figure from local officials stands at 24 schoolchildren, with survivors taken to nearby hospitals. The DR Congo government in Kinshasa acknowledged the disaster in a statement on X via its Ministry of National Education, expressing condolences over the loss of life and injuries without specifying an exact casualty count.

A witness quoted by Reuters said the fire had been brought under control by Thursday afternoon, leaving smouldering ruins and corrugated metal across the hillside city. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Meanwhile, emergency services in the Philippines are continuing search and rescue operations after a passenger ferry caught fire off the western island of Palawan.

Officials have confirmed that at least five people died after the blaze took hold of the vessel, with scores of passengers currently reported missing in the surrounding waters.

The Philippine Coast Guard deployed multiple search and rescue vessels alongside other maritime assets on Thursday to scour the affected area off Palawan's coast. Rescue teams are actively using drift-modelling tools to identify specific sea areas where passengers may have been carried by moving currents.

What we don't know yet in both cases are the underlying causes of the fires. In the Philippines, the exact number of people aboard the ferry when the blaze started has not yet been definitively confirmed beyond reports that scores remain unaccounted for.

Search operations remain under way in the waters off Palawan, and I'll continue following developments in both DR Congo and the Philippines — check back for updates.