Mount Nyiragongo: DR Congo city of Goma empties as thousands flee erupting volcano DR Congo s Mount Nyiragongo has erupted for the first time in nearly two decades.
Many thousands of people have 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.
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.
Thousands flee homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a large volcano eruption
Smoldering ashes are seen early morning in Goma in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo on May 23, 2021 following the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo. - Thousands have fled a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo with lava from Mount Nyiragongo reaching Goma city early Sunday. Even before the official announcement, people had started filling the streets and carrying what they could as they headed out of the city, where the last major eruption killed 100 people. (Photo by Moses Sawasawa / AFP) (Photo by MOSES SAWASAWA/AFP via Getty Images)
Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.
There was no immediate word on any casualties, but witnesses said that lava already had engulfed one highway that connects Goma with the city of Beni in North Kivu province.
Mount Nyiragongo’s last eruption, in 2002, left hundreds dead and coated airport runways in lava. More than 100,000 people were left homeless in the aftermath, adding to the fear in Goma on Saturday night.
Congo s Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.