Yumbi is a town and

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

of Mai-Ndombe in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It lies on the eastern bank of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

between

Bolobo Bolobo is a town on the Congo River in Mai-Ndombe Province in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the administrative center of Bolobo Territory. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 31,366. People The p ...

and

Lukolela Lukolela is a town in Équateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river ...

. The town of Yumbi is the headquarters of Yumbi Territory and has a population of approximately 30,000. On February 2, 2003 a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

killed 17 people in and near the town. Over 4,000 people were injured, 217 seriously.

2018 massacre

Between December 16 and 18, 2018 at least 890 people were killed in four villages of the territory, as reported by the

UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

. Around 465 houses and buildings were burned or looted, including 2 primary schools, 2 health centres, one market and the local

Independent National Electoral Commission The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria. History Regulation and administration of elections The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...

office. The motives of this massacre remain unclear but the UN hints to "clashes between Banunu and Batende communities". The real figure of people that were killed remains unknown because "there are most probably corpses that were thrown away in the river, and people that died in their burning homes."

References

Populated places in Mai-Ndombe Province {{DRCongo-geo-stub