GOMA residents leaving the DR Congo town after the evacuation order. AFP
GOMA: Tens of thousands of people fled the eastern DR Congo city of Goma on Thursday, choking highways, after the local governor warned in a dawn broadcast of a possible new eruption of the volcano Mount Nyiragongo.
The volcano’s monitors also pointed to a potentially catastrophic scenario a “limnic eruption” that could smother the area with suffocating carbon dioxide.
The government said a team of experts was at the summit of the volcano carrying out a risk assessment.
The city, located on the shore of Lake Kivu, has been on edge since Africa’s most active volcano erupted on Saturday, leaving 32 people dead.
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2021-05-27 04:05:16 GMT2021-05-27 12:05:16(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
KINSHASA, May 27 (Xinhua) The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is preparing to activate a precautionary evacuation plan in response to frequent earthquakes in Goma, said the Ministry of Communication and Media Thursday. Goma is still under persistent threat of repeated eruptions and earthquakes. This requires the government to activate as a precautionary measure a gradual evacuation plan for residents as soon as possible, before the threat is completely eliminated, the ministry tweeted.
The province s military governor, General Constant Ndima, warned about a possible fresh volcanic eruption following intense seismic activity in the city of Goma, at the foot of the Nyiragongo volcano in the north-eastern province of North Kivu, as well as surrounding areas and neighbouring Rwanda.
The risk of further eruptions from volcano Nyiragongo led DR Congo authorities to order the evacuation of parts of the city of Goma Thursday, causing an immediate exodus of tens of thousands of people, an AFP correspondent said.