At least five people have died during the evacuation of the Nyiragongo volcano , in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which however has not reached the city of Goma, one of the most populated in the east of the country. In addition, there are more than 25,000 displaced people. “The lava has stopped in Buhene, on the outskirts of Goma. The city has been saved ”, declared the military governor of the province of North Kivu, General Constant Ndima, in statements collected by the Congolese news portal Actualité.
The five deaths have been due to a traffic accident on the Sake Highway, when people were evacuating the city.
Although Goma has not been affected , the eruption has caused serious material damage in the surrounding towns, especially in Buhene, where several houses have been washed away by volcanic lava.
More than 25,000 people have crossed the border into Rwanda , but many of them are already returning, many times to find their homes destroyed. “We still do not know how many homes have been affected by the eruption in the Nyiragongo territory, north of Goma,” said the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has already sent a team to Sake, Buhene, Kibati and Kibumba to give a first answer.
UNICEF has announced its intention to install chlorinated water points in and around Sake to prevent the spread of cholera and strengthen epidemiological surveillance. They are also setting up two transit centers for unaccompanied minors in collaboration with the authorities.
Nyiragongo volcano, considered one of the world’s most dangerous and active volcanoes , last erupted in 2002, when lava destroyed large areas of Goma. Some 250 people lost their lives, while the eruption destroyed the homes of another 120,000 people.
Tourists and gorillas “safe and sound”
Tourists who were near the crater at the time of the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are “safe and sound,” the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) reported on Sunday.
“The tourists who were in the crater yesterday are safe,” said on Twitter the ICCN, the body that supervises the Virunga National Park, where the volcano is located. The ICCN did not specify his number or nationality.
“Mountain gorillas are not threatened ,” the agency added.
Virunga Park, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, opened in 1925, is a sanctuary for the few remaining mountain gorillas, also present in Rwanda and neighboring Uganda.
Located on the border with Rwanda and Uganda, the park covers an area of 7,800 km2 in the province of North Kivu, whose capital is Goma. The Nyiragongo volcano, whose majestic slopes dominate Goma and Lake Kivu, suddenly erupted on Saturday night, causing fear and fleeing populations.
