Nearly 3,000 people were killed over the last week as rebels captured a key city in one of the deadliest battles in the Central African country in decades.

The World Health Organization said that at least 900 bodies were recovered from the streets of Goma as of last Friday following five days of fighting in which the M23 rebels took control of the city.

Rebels in eastern Congo's largest city, Goma, began a ceasefire on Tuesday and people rushed to bury some 2,000 victims of last week's battles for the city as they feared the spread of disease.

Over 2,000 bodies bow require burial in Goma after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels took over the Democratic of Congo city, inflaming a decade-old conflict and humanitarian crisis. Congo’s communications minister Patrick Muyaya on Tuesday confirmed the mass burial,