Volcano erupts in eastern Congo

KINSHASA – A volcano continued erupting near the city of Goma in eastern Congo on Tuesday, spewing lava in an area devastated by a major eruption four years ago.

Mount Nyamulagira began erupting at about 20:00GMT Monday, said Celestin Kasereka, head of the Goma volcano observatory. A red glow suggested that lava fountains and flows continued Tuesday, said Jacques Durieux, the UN manager for the observatory.But he said his team did not yet have a sense of the size or seriousness of the eruption.Observers were trying to get a UN helicopter to fly over the largely uninhabited area.”We aren’t on the ground because of security reasons,” Durieux said.The area around Goma has seen days of clashes between forces loyal to a dissident former general and Congo’s army.At least three people have been killed, and UN forces were drawn into the unrest on Monday.Goma – a provincial capital of about 500 000 people – is not in the path of lava flows from Nyamulagira because its sister volcano, Mount Nyirangongo, protects the city.”Nyirangongo constitutes a barrier,” Kasereka said.Nyirangongo is about 20 kilometres northeast of Goma, while Nyamulagira is another 16 kilometres northeast.They are the only two active volcanoes in the region.Kasereka said the most immediate danger was to animals in Congo’s nearby Virunga National Park, which were likely to fall ill or die from eating plants covered with volcanic ash.The eruption was preceded by small earthquakes, he said.In 2002, the eruption of Nyirangongo destroyed about a fifth of the residential areas of Goma, the provincial capital of Congo’s North Kivu province.About 100 people died as lava flows as deep as 3 metres overtook parts of the city.Nyamulagira erupted later the same year, spewing plumes of lava 90 metres into the air, but without threatening Goma.Largely lawless eastern Congo has been home to numerous rebellions in recent years as rival warlords claim swaths of land, some hanging on despite recent elections designed to unify the country.Nampa-APA red glow suggested that lava fountains and flows continued Tuesday, said Jacques Durieux, the UN manager for the observatory.But he said his team did not yet have a sense of the size or seriousness of the eruption.Observers were trying to get a UN helicopter to fly over the largely uninhabited area.”We aren’t on the ground because of security reasons,” Durieux said.The area around Goma has seen days of clashes between forces loyal to a dissident former general and Congo’s army.At least three people have been killed, and UN forces were drawn into the unrest on Monday.Goma – a provincial capital of about 500 000 people – is not in the path of lava flows from Nyamulagira because its sister volcano, Mount Nyirangongo, protects the city.”Nyirangongo constitutes a barrier,” Kasereka said.Nyirangongo is about 20 kilometres northeast of Goma, while Nyamulagira is another 16 kilometres northeast.They are the only two active volcanoes in the region.Kasereka said the most immediate danger was to animals in Congo’s nearby Virunga National Park, which were likely to fall ill or die from eating plants covered with volcanic ash.The eruption was preceded by small earthquakes, he said.In 2002, the eruption of Nyirangongo destroyed about a fifth of the residential areas of Goma, the provincial capital of Congo’s North Kivu province.About 100 people died as lava flows as deep as 3 metres overtook parts of the city.Nyamulagira erupted later the same year, spewing plumes of lava 90 metres into the air, but without threatening Goma.Largely lawless eastern Congo has been home to numerous rebellions in recent years as rival warlords claim swaths of land, some hanging on despite recent elections designed to unify the country.Nampa-AP