Nyiragongo volcano erupted in eastern DRC

The volcano The Nyiragongo, near the town of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), erupted on Saturday.local authorities announced.

The military governor of the province of North Kivu, general Constant Ndima, “confirmed the eruption of the Nyiriagongo volcano from this May 22 at 7:00 p.m.”, at local times. It’s roughly a one of the busiest in the world and is usually promoted by tourists who want to contemplate the lava lake housed in its crater.

The government ordered the evacuation of Goma on Saturday evening, an official source reported: “The evacuation plan for the city of #Goma has been activated”, Communication Minister Patrick Muyaya announced on Twitter. The decision was announced after “An urgent government meeting on the Goma volcanic eruption.”

Later, the lava river reached the airport in the city of Goma, on the southern flank of the volcano, local authorities reported.

“The situation has worsened”, confirmed an official at Virunga National Park, where the volcano is located, in a message to his staff that the AFP got a copy.

“In addition to the lava river to the northeast (Kibumba / Rwanda), another river runs down the city. Now he has arrived at the airport and, logically, he will go down to the lake “ Kivu, he detailed.

According to an internal document from the United Nations mission in the DRC (Monusco), to which the AFP, a military detachment helicopter “carried out a reconnaissance flight over the area and confirmed the eruption activities”.

This sudden eruption caused panic among the population. Thousands of people fled from the south of the city to the neighboring border post with Rwanda and others from the west to the Masisi region. “There are a lot of people on the road, a lot of cars, they are fleeing,” a neighbor who was driving his family to the town of Sake, on the road to Masisi, told AFP.

“However, the lava river is heading towards Rwanda. The city of Goma and its surroundings are safe»Addition of this evaluation.

Before the official announcement of the eruption, a journalist from AFP could check from Goma strong red rockets expelled by the volcano, and a smell of sulfur was felt in the city located on the southern flank of the volcano, on the shores of Lake Kivu.

The city’s residents over half a million in its metropolitan area – some clearly in Panicked, they would either rush home or look worriedly in the direction of the crater, which overlooks the city.

In addition, electricity was cut in much of the city and thousands of residents, frequently As a family, they went on foot, by motorbike or by car to the Rwandan border, which is very close.

“The sky turned red. It smells of sulfur. Giant flames can be seen in the distance. But it does not shake. The sirens did not sound “, declared at AFP a resident of Goma on the phone, Carine Mbala.

On May 11, the Observatory had already warned in a report on the situation of the volcanoes of the Virunga range –The carrier Yes Nyiragongo- that both “are very active, especially the Nyiragongo, where some sporadic hybrid earthquakes are observed ”.

“This activity still does not affect inhabited areas but they deserve special monitoring”, recommended the Observatory in its report. The Nyamuragira and the Nyiragongo they did eruption last in 2002, forcing some 300,000 people to flee the lava “floods” that covered much of Goma and killed around 200 people.

Virunga, located in the province of North (East) Kivu, one of the most affected by violence in the DRC, is one of the rare tourist destinations in this Central African nation and has been a World Heritage Site since 1979.

With information from AFP and EFE

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