Authorities confirmed 773 bodies and 2,880 injured persons in Goma's morgues and hospitals, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told a briefing in the capital, Kinshasa, adding that the death toll could be higher.

Rwanda-backed rebels claimed on Monday they captured eastern Congo’s strategic city of Goma, the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped.

Hundreds of wounded people have poured into overcrowded hospitals in Goma after Rwanda-backed rebels captured the major city in eastern Congo last week.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government says the Rwanda-backed rebels’ advance constitutes a “declaration of war."