Mount Nyiragongo: DR Congo city of Goma empties as thousands flee erupting volcano

Lava from the eruption has flowed on to a major road and has reached the airport on the edge of the city, witnesses say.

DR Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo has erupted for the first time in nearly two decades – but a city directly in the path of the lava flow has so far been spared.

Many thousands of people fled the city of Goma, some heading for its highest point Mount Goma.

Others headed for the nearby Rwandan border, with authorities there saying that around 3,000 people had already crossed over on Saturday night. Some even boarded boats onto Lake Kivu.

Homes on the outskirts of Goma have been destroyed in the eruption and smoke has been rising from smoldering heaps of lava in some areas.

“We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood,” said witness Innocent Bahala Shamavu.

As people attempted to escape, Goma resident Zacharie Paluku told The Associated Press: “Everyone is afraid, people are running away. We really don’t know what to do.”

There was a government evacuation plan but it came hours after the sky had turned a fiery red and power had been cut to the city.

Lava from the eruption flowed on to a major road on Saturday as it reached the airport on the city’s edge, according to a volcanologist based there. However, the airport is now understood to have escaped damage.

Image:Thousands of people have fled the city of Goma, many heading for the Rwandan border

Image:Many people fled the city before the government activated its evacuation plan, worried by the bright red the sky

Dario Tedesco told Reuters that new fractures were opening in Nyiragongo, allowing the lava to flow southward towards Goma after initially flowing east toward Rwanda.

“Now Goma is the target,” Mr Tedesco said, adding: “It’s similar to 2002.”

Another Gomo resident told Sky News on Saturday night that the “situation is serious”.

“The fire is becoming complicated. The houses are burnt, the people are suffering and the problems are huge,” he said.

Nyiragongo’s last eruption was in 2002 and it left hundreds of people dead, and coated airport runways with lava.

“I think that the lava is going towards the city centre,” Mr Tedesco said.

“It might stop before or go on. It’s difficult to forecast.”

No casualties have been confirmed as a result of the eruption so far.

Image:The sky over Goma in Congo has turned a fiery red due to the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo

Image:The volcanic eruption has sent lava into the air and across at least one major road

“We are doing our best to give you factual information, unfortunately, a part of Gomo is in the dark but I want to assure you your government is doing something,” a government spokesman said.

Goma is a base for UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO and it was reported that the organisation’s aircraft had been moved to nearby cities.

Nyiragongo is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous.

There had been concern about the amount of volcanic activity observed in the last five years at Nyiragongo but experts at Goma Volcano Observatory have not been able to check things regularly due to funding issues.

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LAVA STOPS SHORT OF CONGO CITY AFTER VOLCANIC ERUPTION

A smoking trail of lava from a volcanic eruption appeared to have halted a few hundred metres from the edge of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's main city on Sunday morning, said a Reuters reporter at the scene.

Goma, a lakeside city of about 2 million people, was thrown into panic on Saturday evening as the nearby Mount Nyiragongo erupted, turning the night sky an eerie red. Thousands fled with their belongings on foot, some towards the nearby border with Rwanda.

As the sun rose on Sunday, much of the hillside to the north of the town was burned black and houses had been demolished. The sky was again a cloudy gray.

"Local authorities who have been monitoring the eruption overnight report that the lava flow has lost intensity," government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said on Twitter on Sunday.

Nyiragongo's previous eruption in 2002 killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless. It is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous. Saturday's eruption appears to have been caused when fractures opened in the volcano's side, causing lava flows in various directions.

Experts were worried that the volcanic activity observed in the past five years at Nyiragongo mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.

The Reuters reporter said the lava flow had stopped short of Goma's airport and the city limits but that surrounding villages were hit.

Lava crossed a main road out of Goma, cutting if off from cities to the north. Traffic was in gridlock in most places as people tried to leave or return to assess the damage to their homes.

It was not possible to estimate material damage or if anyone had died.

A separate lava flow that headed east over unpopulated terrain towards Rwanda also appeared to have stopped, the reporter said.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa

GOVERNOR CALLS FOR CHURCH ACTION ON BEHALF OF VULNERABLE PEOPLE

Malanje - The provincial governor of Malanje, Norberto dos Santos "Kwata Kanawa", Sunday asked for the strengthening of the churches action in favour of the most disadvantaged people, with emphasis on the street children and the families affected by the drought.

Speaking during a visit to the United Methodist Church of Malanje, as part of his tour to the religious institutions based in the province, the governor highlighted the history of missionary action among the most vulnerable and considered it urgent to strengthen this orientation in order to support the State to mitigate the difficulties that many families face.

In a brief intervention, Norberto dos Santos praised the prompt response that the church has always given to the issues that affect the population, thus reinforcing its partnership with the State in ensuring peace and social welfare.

At the occasion, the pastor of the Central United Methodist Church of Malanje, Reverend Victorino de Almeida, welcomed the visit, as it strengthens the relationship with the State.

He assured that, at this moment, the United Methodist Church in Malanje is carrying out campaigns to collect donations, to help needy people and extended the appeal to other religious institutions and others to join the cause.

The provincial governor of Malanje's tour to the churches in the province, a fortnightly initiative, began on the 15th of this month and has already visited the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The Provincial Office for Culture, Tourism and Youth and Sports controls 51 religious denominations.

MINISTER STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH IN CHILD EDUCATION

Luanda - The Minister of Social Action, Family and Women Promotion, Faustina Alves, reaffirmed Sunday the importance of the partnership between the State and the Angolan church in the realisation of actions linked to education and protection of children.

Speaking to the press, on the sidelines of a service alluding to the Day of the Tocoist Child (20 May), the Cabinet minister said that this contribution of the Church is fundamental to instil in children the culture of respect for moral and civic values.

According to the government official, it is also important to reinforce, within the scope of this partnership, the awareness programmes for parents and carers, aiming at reducing the cases of parenthood denial in Angola.

"Among the various child protection problems, we should highlight that of raising the awareness of society to avoid cases of paternity denial," she stressed.

According to Faustina Alves, the child must be well prepared for the future and, for that reason, the churches, as the moral guardians of society, play a pivotal role.

She announced that the Government is developing a series of programmes, with the purpose of reducing the number of child deaths at birth and to facilitate their access to the education system.

"Children should not be involved in the disagreements that may arise within the homes, since it is their right to be educated in a healthy coexistence, to avoid in the future the existence of men and women traumatised by violence."

COVID-19: ANGOLA REPORTS 292 NEW CASES, 10 DEATHS

Luanda - At least two hundred and ninety-two new cases, ten deaths and three recovered patients is the statistical balance of the last 24 hours, announced this Sunday by the health authorities.

The health bulletin indicates the diagnosis of 229 cases in Luanda, 41 in Huíla, 9 in Huambo, 4 in Namibe, 3 in Cabinda, 3 in Cunene, 1 in Bengo, 1 in Benguela and 1 in Lunda Sul.

Of the new cases, whose ages range from 11 months to 86 years, 166 are men and 126 women.

Of the deaths, of which nine were Angolans and one Brazilian citizen, nine occurred in Luanda and one in Huambo province.

Those recovered, according to the report, reside in Luanda province.

At the treatment centres 271 patients are hospitalised, 44 citizens are in institutional quarantine, whilst 2,302 citizens in contacts of positive cases are under surveillance by the health authorities.

Laboratories have processed, in the last 24 hours, 8,887 samples.

The general picture indicates 32,441 positive cases, with 725 deaths, 26,778 recovered and 4,938 active. Of the active, 11 critical, 47 severe, 184 moderate, 29 mild and 4,667 asymptomatic.