The explosion took place at INBOX bar where people were celebrating Christmas, according to a security official in Beni, reports CNN.

"The suicide bomber, prevented by security guards from entering a crowded bar, activated the bomb at the entrance of the bar," the regional governor's spokesman, General Ekenge Sylvain, said in a statement as quoted by CNN.

The blast left 14 people hurt.

Two women and a teenage girl were among those killed in the attack.