Mount Nyiragongo in Goma, Congo, erupted over the weekend, sending “torrents of lava” into nearby villages during the nighttime hours.
- The volcano erupted with little warning or advisory.
Details of the eruption
At least 15 people died from the eruption as chaos washed over the villages. More than 500 homes were destroyed during the eruption, too, according to USA Today.
The massive volcano eruption led people to flee the Congo as cities burned and people in the country died.
- About 5,000 people fled from Goma, Congo, into the nearby country of Rwanda. A separate 25,000 people went into Sake, which is a town in the Congo.
Nearly 8,000 people have left the Congo to seek refuge in other countries, CNN reports.
- “This morning, after lava flows from Nyiragongo volcano have stopped, most of Congolese evacuated to Rubavu are returning back home. Rwanda received around 8,000 people last night,” The Ministry in charge of Emergency Management said on its official Twitter account.
- “However, most people are slowly making their way back home since the lava has stopped flowing this morning,” UNICEF said in a press release, according to the U.N.
Close to 170 children were still considered missing on Sunday, according to the U.N.
What’s next?
The lava flow stopped in the Buhene district, which sits on the outskirts of Goma. Still, it buried so many homes that the reconstruction effort could take months to complete, according to BBC News.
- “There’s land, people, a population that has lost everything, maybe there are also deaths, who knows?” said one resident, Irene Bauma, according to BBC News. “We are asking the government to come and help the survivors of this eruption.”