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Residents in Goma are waiting to register for help - they have lost their homes in the Nyiragongo eruption
Photo: GUERCHOM NDEBO / AFP
A renewed eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano may be imminent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The authorities have therefore ordered a partial evacuation of the megacity of Goma.
On Thursday night, the military governor of the North Kivu region announced the evacuation of ten districts on the official TV channel RTNC.
Tens of thousands of people tried to get to safety on Thursday morning, a correspondent for the AFP news agency reported.
The volcano erupted over the weekend and drove thousands to flight.
Lieutenant General Constant Ndima Kongba justified this with scientific data that indicated a renewed eruption of the volcano.
There is also a risk that hot lava on the bottom of Lake Kivu could release toxic gases.
The authorities would organize transport for the residents, they should only take the bare essentials.
After the volcano erupted on Saturday, residents left their homes in a panic and some of them fled across the border into neighboring Rwanda.
Part of the lava had rolled towards Goma, but then stopped 300 meters from the border town's airport.
According to the UN Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), 40 people are still missing.
Around 20,000 people have become homeless.
The agency had pointed out ongoing tremors and clouds of ash the previous evening.
The closure of the airports in the affected border town of Goma and the neighboring town of Bukavu made humanitarian aid more difficult.
Three villages and a suburb of Goma were destroyed by the lava.
Nyiragongo is located in the Virunga National Park, about 20 kilometers north of the city - near the border with Rwanda.
Mount Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002.
At that time, lava destroyed large parts of Goma.
Around 250 people were killed and 120,000 were left homeless.
Almost all of the eastern part of Goma has been covered in lava, including half of the runway at Goma Airport.
The Nyiragongo eruption with the most serious consequences so far occurred in 1977, when more than 600 people died.
In the region on the border with Rwanda and Uganda there are a total of six volcanoes over 3000 meters high.
Goma in the province of North Kivu is home to an important base for UN blue helmets.
Many international organizations and non-governmental organizations also work from there.
bbr / dpa / AFP