Officials said Monday that the volcanic eruption in eastern Congo two days ago killed at least 32 people, as residents searched for missing loved ones among damaged homes on the outskirts of Goma, where aftershocks were detected.
According to officials and witnesses, Mount Nyiragongo turned the dark sky fiery red Saturday night and then spewed torrents of lava into villages, destroying more than 500 houses.
According to Joseph Makundi, the North Kivu province's head of civil protection, the death toll rose from 22 to 32 on Monday and was expected to rise further. He said that more than a dozen people died in car accidents while attempting to flee. Others died as lava engulfed their houses.
The scientific director of the Volcanic Observatory of Goma, Celestin Kasereka Mahinda, told The Associated Press that some people died Monday after inhaling smoke or toxic gas while walking through a wide expanse of cooling lava.
He said they were traveling on a road between Kibati and Goma that had been cut off by a 1,000-meter (half-mile) deep lava flow.
“The people of Goma must avoid unnecessary travel, but they must also avoid visiting areas where the volcano has erupted lava because these lavas are toxic and dangerous,” he said.
After flying in from Rwanda, a delegation of government ministers, including Congo's health minister, visited Goma. Grief, disbelief, and fear hung over the region.
Because of a budget cut, scientists at the volcano observatory were unable to properly alert the public about the eruption, according to Mahinda.
“The observatory no longer has the funding of the central government or external donors,” Mahinda told The Associated Press. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, a collaboration between the government and the World Bank that had funded the observatory was cut in October 2020, leaving the observatory without even internet, he said.
The observatory had only recently resumed operations thanks to new funding from the United States Geological Survey's Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, which means it can at least collect data after the eruption, he said.
The volcano is still active, and tremors have been reported, he said, urging residents to remain vigilant.
Government ministers arrived in Goma on Monday to determine the level of assistance needed for those affected by the eruption.
Minister of Public Health Jean-Jacques Mbungani said, "The government team dispatched expressly here in Goma, following the volcanic eruption which caused a lot of damage in the region." “It is important that our government sends a clear signal. We'll meet with the military governor, as well as all other stakeholders, to figure out how to get fast solutions for the people.”
Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu province, has urged Goma residents not to send their children to school. He said in a statement that Goma's international airport and the airport in Kavumu, South Kivu province, were closed for security reasons.
Around 5,000 people fled across the neighboring Rwandan border from one neighborhood of Goma, a city of about 2 million residents, as a result of the volcano eruption. Another 25,000 people sought shelter in Sake, which is located to the northwest, according to the United Nations Children's Agency.
More than 170 children were still missing, and UNICEF officials said they were putting together transit centers to assist unaccompanied children in the aftermath of the tragedy, which had split more than 150 children from their families.
Goma was largely spared from the devastation caused by Mt. Nyiragongo's most recent eruption in 2002. Hundreds of people died, and over 100,000 people were displaced.
Goma serves as a regional center for a number of humanitarian organizations as well as a United Nations peacekeeping operation. A slew of armed groups fighting for control of the region's lucrative mineral resources is threatening most of eastern Congo.
