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At least 15 dead, thousands forced to flee as volcano erupts in Congo

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GOMA, Congo — Torrents of lava poured into villages after dark 
in eastern Congo with little warning, leaving at least 15 people 
dead amid the chaos and destroying more than 500 homes, 
officials and survivors said Sunday.

The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on Saturday night sent about 
5,000 people fleeing from the city of Goma across the nearby 
border into Rwanda, while another 25,000 others sought refuge to 
the northwest in Sake, the U.N. children's agency said Sunday.

More than 170 children were still feared missing Sunday and 
UNICEF officials said they were organizing transit centers to 
help unaccompanied children in the wake of the disaster.

Goma ultimately was largely spared the mass destruction it 
suffered the last time the volcano erupted back in 2002. 
Hundreds died then and more than 100,000 people were left 
homeless. But in outlying villages closer to the volcano, Sunday 
was marked by grief and uncertainty.

Aline Bichikwebo and her baby managed to escape when the lava 
flow reached her village, but said both her mother and father 
were among those who perished. Community members gave a 
provisional toll of 10 dead in Bugamba alone, though provincial 
authorities said it was too soon to know how many lives were 
lost.

Bichikwebo says she tried to rescue her father but wasn't strong 
enough to move him to safety before the family's home was 
ignited by lava.

“I am asking for help because everything we had is gone,” she 
said, clutching her baby. “We don’t even have a pot. We are now 
orphans and we have nothing.”

The air remained thick with smoke because of how many homes had 
caught fire when the lava came.

“People are still panicking and are hungry,” resident Alumba 
Sutoye said. “They don’t even know where they are going to spend 
the night.”


Elsewhere, authorities said at least five other people had died 
in a truck crash while they were trying to evacuate Goma, but 
the scale of the loss had yet to be determined in some of the 
hardest-hit communities.

Residents said there was little warning before the dark sky 
turned a fiery red, sending people running for their lives in 
all directions. One woman went into labor and gave birth while 
fleeing the eruption to Rwanda, the national broadcaster there 
said.

Smoke rose from smoldering heaps of lava in the Buhene area near 
the city Sunday.

“We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood," 
Innocent Bahala Shamavu said. “All the houses in Buhene 
neighborhood were burned and that’s why we are asking all the 
provincial authorities and authorities at the national level as 
well as all the partners, all the people of good faith in the 
world, to come to the aid of this population.”

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

Elsewhere, witnesses said lava had engulfed one highway 
connecting Goma with the city of Beni. However, the airport 
appeared to be spared the same fate as 2002 when lava flowed 
onto the runways.

Goma is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the 
region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission. While Goma is 
home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of 
surrounding eastern Congo is under threat from a myriad of armed 
groups vying for control of the region’s mineral resources.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/thousands-forced-flee-mount-
nyiragongo-volcano-erupts-congo-n1268261?icid=recommended
 

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At least 15 dead, thousands forced to flee as volcano erupts in Congo "Blaming Humans For Climate Change Is Ignorant" <nobody@dont-email.me> - 2021-05-30 07:05 +0200

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