■ Tens of thousands fled in Congo amid the threat of an eruption.
New eruption could hit anytime, official warns
GOMA, Congo — Tens of thousands of people were fleeing the city of Goma in eastern Congo fearing another volcanic eruption by Mount Nyiragongo, which spewed lava near the city last week. Traffic was jammed and pedestrians streamed through the streets, desperate to escape.
A new eruption could occur at any moment, the military governor of Congo’s North Kivu province, Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima Kongba, announced Thursday. He ordered the evacuation of 10 of the 18 neighborhoods in the city of nearly 2 million.
The center of Goma, which was spared when the volcano erupted last week, is now under threat, with activity being reported near the urban area and Lake Kivu, Kongba said.
“Based on these scientific observations, we cannot currently rule out an eruption on land or under the lake. And this could happen with very little, or no, warning,” he said. An eruption under Lake Kivu could also lead to an explosion of gas in the lake, which could destroy parts of Goma and Gisenyi in neighboring Rwanda.
Residents were advised to carry very little and told not to return to their homes until advised by authorities. Authorities provided vehicles for the evacuations.
Many people were seen heading northwest toward the town of Sake and east toward Rwanda. International organizations such as the U.N. mission in Congo had on Wednesday already begun evacuating their staff.
Maguy Balume told The Associated Press by phone that she left her home with her two children and is heading for Sake.
“I am with my two children heading toward Sake, after leaving my home. My husband is on a mission in Kinshasa and I don’t know how I’m going to meet him,” she said. “I don’t think about my house because my family’s safety and health come first. I can build another house if
I want to. I know that my God will save Goma.”
Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active volcanos, turned the dark sky fiery red Saturday night and then spewed torrents of lava into villages on the outskirts of Goma destroying more than 500 homes and resulting in the deaths of more than 32 people.
Scientists at the volcano observatory weren’t able to adequately warn the public of the eruption because of a funding cut, according to the scientific director of the Volcanic Observatory of Goma, Celestin Kasereka Mahinda.
A partnership between the government and the World Bank that had supported the observatory was cut in October 2020 because of the pandemic, leaving the observatory without even internet, he said.
Mount Nyiragongo’s last eruption was in 2002, leaving hundreds dead. The lava coated the airport runways and also left more than 100,000 homeless in the aftermath. The volcano also erupted in 1977, killing more than 600 people.