The city of Goma, at the foot of the Nyiragongo volcano which erupted on Saturday in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was still shaken Monday by numerous and strong earthquakes, arousing the fear of populations barely returned to the region. cited. "
It multiplies and it comes at any time
", told AFP a resident, deeming it "
very worrying
". "
The night has been long, the fear in the stomach is there
". "
There has just been a big shock, I'm even afraid to stay in the office,
" Deborah, an employee of an international organization, said on the phone. "
I wonder if I should stay or go home, it even cut off the electricity,
" she worried.
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Already very numerous on Sunday, these earthquakes continued all night and Monday morning at a sustained pace, sometimes with great intensity.
In the city of Goma, the population, partly back after having fled en masse from the eruption of Nyiragongo on Saturday evening, was very distressed by these tremors, sometimes leaving multi-storey buildings and houses with each earthquake.
Still for fear of the tremors, the schools did not reopen their doors and the students were invited to stay at home, by order of the provincial authorities.
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At the end of the Saturday afternoon, the Nyiragongo volcano, whose dark majestic slopes dominate Goma and Lake Kivu, suddenly erupted, causing fear and the flight of populations.
Two lava flows escaped from its flanks, one of which reached the edge of Goma, where it came to rest on Sunday morning.
Many homes were engulfed by this lava spout extending for hundreds of meters, which also cut for several hundred meters the road connecting Goma to Butembo, the main one in North Kivu and an important axis of regional trade.
The previous major eruption of Nyiragongo, on January 17, 2002, killed around 100 people, in a similar scenario, a lava flow cutting the city to flow into the waters of Lake Kivu.
Toxic vapors
On Monday, the blackish rock lava was still hot, with smoke rising in places. Dozens of people, curious and worried, went to the scene. While pedestrians ventured on the lava, despite the risk of toxic fumes, including crossing the road where it was buried. The volcano in the distance was apparently calm, with its usual fumaroles rising from the crater on the horizon.
According to the authorities, a total of 17 villages were affected, the material damage was very important, while fifteen people died: nine people injured, two burned, four prisoners killed while trying to escape.
The eruption caught everyone off guard, including the authorities, forced to urgently order the evacuation of the city on Saturday evening.
Tens of thousands of people fled to the nearby border post with Rwanda, south of Goma, or south-west, towards the Masisi region.
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A large part of the population returned Sunday, and the city offered Monday morning a semblance of normalcy, with its usual activity.
Shops and gas stations have reopened, traffic has resumed normally, it was noted.
Hundreds of these victims, whose homes were destroyed by the lava, spent the night left to their own devices in the street, on mattresses for the lucky ones.
SEE ALSO - In DRC, the Nyiragongo volcano erupts and pushes to evacuate Goma
