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.

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.

Fighting has escalated sharply in recent weeks in eastern Congo, where rebels have seized key towns and are closing in on the city of Goma, the government’s last stronghold in the North Kivu province,