Forty-one people, including 38 students, were killed when an Islamist extremist group attacked a secondary school.

The attackers, purported to be members of the Allied Democratic Forces, also kidnapped six people and transported them across the border from Uganda into the Congo, as reported by the Ugandan military.

Julius Isingoma, one of the few survivors from the onslaught on Lhubiriha Secondary School in Uganda, recounted how he covered himself in blood to trick the attackers into thinking he was dead. He described laying motionless among the lifeless bodies of his friends, staining himself with their blood. After a pulse check, the attackers presumed him dead and moved on.

The attack initiated with students taking refuge in the boys’ dormitory, securing the door against the assailants. However, the attackers managed to breach the door and began shooting. Isingoma sought refuge in the ceiling but fell, drawing the attention of the attackers, leading him to feign death using blood.

Godwin Mumbere, another survivor, managed to hide under a bed, protected by the bodies of his fallen schoolmates. Despite getting shot in the hand and the dormitory being set on fire, he survived.

The assailants wielded guns, hammers, and axes in their ruthless attack, killing their victims by shooting, burning, and hacking. Among the dead were a school guard and two individuals from the local community.

The mayor of Mpondwe reported finding 41 bodies. The survivors, which included a severely injured girl, were transported to a hospital.