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Rwanda opens borders to hundreds fleeing DRC volcanic eruption
10:58 CAT | 23 May 2021
Goma residents are seen leaving the city following a sudden activity of the Nyiragongo volcano on May 22, 2021. Rwanda has opened its borders to accommodate hundreds of people fleeing the city of Goma following the volcanic eruption. [Photo: Guerchom Ndebo / AFP]
Rwanda has opened its borders to accommodate hundreds of people fleeing the city of Goma in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo following the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.
The situation in #Goma is worsening. The lava has reached the airport and should not stop until the lake. Massive population movements towards the north or Rwanda. Some NGOs evacuating. #Nyiragongo pic.twitter.com/G4HEjdHJFD
— Tom Peyre-Costa (@Tom_Peyre_Costa) May 22, 2021
Taken aback by this latest eruption of the volcano, the residents of Goma in North Kivu province began seeking refuge in Rwanda.
Vincent Karega, the Rwandan ambassador to DRC who is stationed in Kinshasa, confirmed that his country had welcomed those fleeing the volcanic eruption.
“The Rwandan borders are open and the reception of our neighbours is taking place peacefully. There was no blockage whatsoever but rather the organisation of coordinated entries,” he said.
Accommodated in schools
Late Saturday evening, authorities in Rubavu district in Rwanda announced that the arrivals would be accommodated in schools and places of worship which had been prepared for this purpose.
No deaths have been reported following the volcanic eruption.
Congolese authorities in Kinshasa said they had decided to activate “an evacuation plan” of the city of Goma.
Fearing the airport in Goma could be affected by the lava flow, the Minister for Transport Chérubin Okende ordered that planes parked there be evacuated to Kisangani in the northeast of the DRC.
The lava from the erupting mountain reached the DRC city’s airport early Sunday, with an official from Virunga National Park — where the volcano is located — telling his staff: “the situation is deteriorating”.
Tshisekedi returns
President Félix Tshisekedi, who has been in Europe since the beginning of the week, is expected back home Sunday.
Mr Tshisekedi is expected to supervise the coordination of aid to the populations of the areas threatened by the volcanic eruption, the presidency announced.
In light of the eruption of Mount #Nyiragongo #volcano affecting the city of Goma in #DRC, the 🇪🇺 Response Coordination Centre has triggered the @CopernicusEMS for the production of 📡 maps in rapid mapping mode. We will continue to monitor closely and stand ready to assist. https://t.co/KgmExPvwMb
— Janez Lenarčič (@JanezLenarcic) May 23, 2021
Earlier, as the volcano began lighting up, a smell of sulphur pervaded Goma city on the shores of Lake Kivu, according to an AFP correspondent.
Goma, the regional capital of North Kivu, has nearly 600,000 inhabitants spread across 12 districts.
The authorities’ evacuation plan anticipates that two-thirds of them will go to Rwanda.
The previous major eruption of Nyiragongo dates back to January 17, 2002, when it killed more than 100 people. It covered almost the entire eastern part of Goma with lava, including half of the airport runway.
By Patrice Lunga, in Kinshassa
Source: The East African
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