According to an AFP reporter in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, the Mount Nyiragongo volcano erupted on Saturday, spewing red fumes into the night sky.
When the city’s power went out, some people started fleeing their homes and making their way to the Rwandan border.
“The sky has turned red,” one resident, Carine Mbala, told AFP by telephone.
“There is a smell of sulphur. In the distance you can see giant flames coming out of the mountain.
“But there has not been any earthquake,” she added.
“People are leaving or preparing to leave,” another resident told AFP, as the streets began filling up, some carrying as much of their belongings as they could.
According to the correspondent, there is currently no evidence of a lava flow from the settlement.
Goma is located on the mountain’s southern flank and has a beautiful view of Lake Kivu.
The last time Nyiragongo erupted was on January 17, 2002, when it killed over a hundred people and engulfed almost all of Goma in lava, including half of the airport’s landing strip.
Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee the city.
The most deadly eruption of the 3,000-meter-high volcano occurred in 1977,
Six volcanoes tower over 3,000 meters in the Goma region of North Kivu province, which borders Rwanda and Uganda.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
