The fire started Friday night and continued into early Saturday in a building in Lingwala in northern Kinshasa. The building's narrow hallways were constricted by people trying to escape the fire.

Several people — some alive and some dead — were laid by the roadside as attendees tried to help those who were still alive.

The mayor of Lingwala, Norbert Mushinga, told the Congolese Press Agency that the provisional death toll was 22. He said the toll could rise further.

The exact cause of the fire was unconfirmed. "It is a tragedy," Jacquemin Shabani, Congo's deputy prime minister and interior minister, said. The minister visited the site Saturday morning.

Deadly fires are common in densely populated areas of Kinshasa where urban development is often implemented without provisions such as fire services. Fires are common during the dry season and several have taken place this year, according to local media.