AT LEAST 773 people were killed in Goma last week, according to Congolese authorities, as Rwanda-backed rebels captured the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a major escalation of the region’s decade-long conflict.

There were 773 bodies and 2,880 injured people in Goma’s morgues and hospitals, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told a briefing in the capital Kinshasa on Saturday.

“These figures remain provisional because the rebels asked the population to clean the streets of Goma,” said Mr Muyaya. “There should be mass graves and the Rwandans took care to evacuate theirs.”