Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have postponed the presidential election scheduled for Sunday, an opposition candidate has told Reuters news agency.

Theodore Ngoy was quoted as saying that the chief electoral official had told presidential candidates that the destruction of polling equipment in a Kinshasa warehouse fire had contributed to the decision.

The official also reportedly blamed the postponement on ethnic violence and a current Ebola outbreak.

There has been no independent confirmation of the report.

The campaign to elect a successor to President Joseph Kabila on 23 December has been marred by deadly clashes.

The president's mandate ended in 2016, but elections have been repeatedly delayed.

Dozens of opposition supporters have been killed in protests demanding that he step down.