DR Congo volcanic eruption leaves trail of death and destruction Volcanic News

The eruption of Mount Nyiragon killed at least 15 people, sent 30,000 people fleeing Goma and destroyed more than 500 homes.

In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lava flows flooded villages at dusk, with few warnings, leaving at least 15 people dead in the midst of chaos and destroying more than 500 homes.

The The eruption of Mount Nyiragon On Saturday night about 5,000 people were sent to flee the city of Goma to the Rwandan border, while another 25,000 people fled in Saka, the UN children’s agency said on Sunday.

More than 170 children were feared missing on Sunday, and UNICEF officials said they were organizing transition centers to help unaccompanied children after the disaster.

The rubber was finally freed from the massive destruction it suffered during the last time the volcano erupted in 2002. Hundreds were killed then and more than 100,000 people were left homeless. In villages closer to the volcano, however, there were sorrows and uncertainties on Sunday.

Beatrice Katungu, 47, said her husband and eight of her 10 children were missing.

“I don’t know what happened and whether it was burned by a lava because of the eruption in the evening,” Katungue told Al Jazeera.

“Some people came home on Sunday morning but unfortunately not my family.”

The air was maintained by the smoke from the many houses that caught fire.

Florence’s Rudasiga, another victim of the blast, said Al Jazeera had not yet come to help officials.

“I’m a widow. I don’t know where to go. May the government help us. We haven’t seen any officials come to sympathize with us. We have been abandoned, “Rudasigara said.” We will starve to death. “

Elsewhere, authorities said at least five other people were killed in an attempt to evacuate Goma in a truck accident, but the size of the loss was yet to be determined in the most affected communities.

Neighbors said there were few warnings before the dark skies turned to red fire, sending people running from one direction to the next. A woman went into childbirth and the eruption was fleeing to Rwanda, the national broadcaster there gave birth.

Smoke rose on Sunday from a pile of lava piles in the Buhene area near the city.

“We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood,” Innocent Bahala Shamavu told The Associated Press.

“All the houses in the Buhene neighborhood were burned and that is why we urge the national provincial authorities and authorities, as well as all the partners, all the people of good faith in the world, to come to the aid of this population.”

Witnesses said the lava also hit a highway linking the city of Goma Beni. However, when the lava flowed onto the runways in 2002, the same fate as the airport in 2002 was saved.

Goma is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as a UN peacekeeping mission.

Additional report by Ezra Tsongo in Goma.

Neighbors walk among the lava-burning smoke that flows from Mount Nyiragon in Goma [AFP]