world-regions Mount Nyiragongo unleashed disasters” target=”_blank”>lava< erupted at night and sent thousands fleeing in panic.
Authorities said at least five people had died in a road crash while trying to leave Goma, but cautioned it was too early to give a death toll in the hardest hit communities.
Residents said there was little warning before the dark sky turned a fiery red, leading to fears that the eruption could cause the same kind of devastation as the last time in 2002 when hundreds died.
Lava from the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo is seen in Buhene, on the outskirts of Goma, Congo in the early hours of Sunday, May 23, 2021. 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. (AP Photo/Justin Kabumba)
(AP)
BACK-TO-BACK TORNADOES KILL 12 IN CHINA; OVER 300 INJURED
The U.N. peacekeeping mission had said late Saturday that it didn’t appear the lava was flowing toward Goma based on reconnaissance flights, but untold thousands still set off fearing the worst. Some boarded boats onto Lake Kivu while others attempted to reach Mount Goma, the highest elevation point.
Thousands of others fled across the nearby border to Rwanda, where the national broadcaster reported that one Congolese woman had given birth on her way into Rwanda fleeing the volcanic eruption.
On Sunday, residents ventured out to assess the damage after a night of panic. Smoke rose from smoldering heaps of disasters” target=”_blank”>lava< first showed signs of erupting.
“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 disasters” target=”_blank”>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.
Elsewhere witnesses said lava had engulfed one highway connecting Goma with the city of Beni. However, the airport appeared to be spared the same fate as 2002 when lava flowed onto the runways.
Goma is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission. While Goma is home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of surrounding eastern Congo is under threat from a myriad of armed groups vying for control of the region’s mineral resources.
