A rush to bury Goma's dead after Congo rebels declare truce

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00:00The morgues in Goma are overflowing, after Rwanda-backed rebels seized the biggest city

00:07in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week.

00:12Relative calm has now returned to the provincial capital, after the rebel Congo River Alliance,

00:17including the M23 group, declared a ceasefire from Tuesday.

00:22But now Red Cross workers and civil protection teams are struggling to bury the dead.

00:28Myriam Favier, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's sub-delegation

00:32in Goma, said power lines had been cut, hampering refrigeration at morgues, and that land for

00:38burials is extremely limited.

00:41So, it has been a race against time to find burial sites, and it remains a race against

00:48time because identifying the body is becoming increasingly difficult.

00:53Each passing day makes our task even harder.

00:58Congo's communications minister said late on Monday that 2,000 bodies require burial

01:03in Goma.

01:04That, Patrick Mulyair said, gave, quote, an overview of massacres committed in the city.

01:11The United Nations has said at least 900 people were killed and almost 3,000 injured in the

01:18days of fighting leading up to Goma's capture.

01:21The UN has also accused both M23 and the Congolese army of recent human rights abuses, including

01:27summary executions and rape.

01:30Neither side have responded to requests for comment.

01:34M23 is the latest in a long line of Rwandan-backed rebel movements to emerge in Congo's volatile

01:40eastern borderlands following two successive wars stemming from Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

01:48Rwanda has long denied supporting M23 and says it is acting in self-defence and to protect

01:53ethnic Tutsis.

01:55Congo accuses Rwanda of using M23 to pillage valuable minerals.

02:02The escalation of violence last month has also worsened a humanitarian crisis in the

02:07region.

02:08The Congo River Alliance rebels have vowed to restore order.

02:12And they say they have no intention of capturing the city of Bukavu to Goma's south.

02:17That's after reports rebel fighters were pushing towards it.

02:21However, Congo Army Spokesperson Sylvain Akenge and Communications Minister Muyaya expressed

02:27scepticism about the ceasefire.

02:29Akenge said M23 say one thing and always do the opposite, and that they call for a ceasefire

02:35to reorganise and reinforce their ranks.

02:39Muyaya on Monday also asked for more concrete actions and sanctions on Rwanda.