Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Residents flee after volcano erupts in Congo

Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.

There was no immediate word on any casualties, but witnesses said that lava already had engulfed one highway that connects Goma with the city of Beni in North Kivu province.

Mount Nyiragongo’s last eruption, in 2002, left hundreds dead and coated airport runways in lava. More than 100,000 people were left homeless in the aftermath, adding to the fear in Goma on Saturday night.

“We are already in a total psychosis,” resident Zacharie Paluku told The Associated Press. “Everyone is afraid; people are running away. We really don’t know what to do.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The government said it was putting an evacuation plan into place, but the announcement was made several hours after the sky turned a fiery red, and many already had fled on foot in hopes of crossing the Rwandan border post just outside town. Car horns honked and motorcycle taxis weaved as people attempted to escape in panic.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO tweeted dramatic footage of the city alit, saying it was conducting reconnaissance flights over the city where it maintains a large base.

“The lava doesn’t seem to be headed toward the city of Goma. We remain on alert,” it said.

Some sought refuge aboard boats on Lake Kivu, while others fled to Mount Goma, the highest point in the metropolitan area. Dorcas Mbulayi left her home about an hour after the volcano first showed signs of erupting.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

“We were eating when a friend of dad’s called him on the phone and told him to go and look outside,” said Mbulayi, who was still a child the last time the volcano erupted. “Dad told us that the volcano was erupting and that we were going to go to Mount Goma to escape the lava of the volcano.”

She also blamed authorities “for not informing us in time about the possible volcanic eruption.”

The lack of immediate announcements from authorities and conflicting accounts circulating on social media only added to the sense of chaos in Goma.

Authorities at the Goma Volcano Observatory initially said it was the nearby Nyamulagira volcano that had erupted. The two volcanos are located about 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) apart.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Volcanologist Charles Balagizi said the observatory’s report was based on the direction in which the lava appeared to be flowing, which was toward Rwanda rather than Goma.

Goma sits along the border between Congo and neighboring Rwanda, and is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO.

The volcano erupting is also close the Virunga National Park, home to some of the last mountain gorillas in the world. While Goma is home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of the surrounding eastern Congo is also under threat from a myriad of armed groups vying for control of the region’s mineral resources.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

From Our Newsroom

News

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has announced the country’s decision to offer visa-free travel to Africans in a move aimed at promoting the free movement...

News

Researchers in Germany are nearing significant milestones in the process of repatriating human skulls taken from Rwanda during the colonial era (1898 to 1916)....

News

Amb. Dr Emmanuel Nkweke, the International World Peace Advocates Spokesman, along with delegates from IAWPA Nigeria, participated in the 2023 United Nations Africa Climate...

News

The International Association of World Peace Advocates (IAWPA) has distanced itself from claims suggesting its endorsement of gay rights. The association clarified that such...

Advertisement