Ron Brackett – May 24, 3021
A river of lava a half-mile wide gushing from Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo engulfed hundreds of homes and set fires before coming to rest at the edge of the city of Goma.
Tens of thousands of people fled late Saturday as the volcano unleashed the lava flow that cast a scarlet glow in the night sky. It was the first time Mount Nyiragongo has erupted in nearly 20 years.
“The sky has turned red,” Carine Mbala, a resident of Goma, told AFP by telephone. “There is a smell of sulfur. In the distance you can see giant flames coming out of the mountain.”
At least 15 people died, most in car crashes in the chaotic evacuation, the Associated Press reported. UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, said more than 170 children were still feared missing.
When the volcano began erupting, some people boarded boats on Lake Kivu, which lies on the border between Congo and Rwanda in central Africa. About 5,000 people crossed the border into Rwanda. Another 25,000 went northwest toward the town of Sake, according to UNICEF.
Altogether, 17 villages were affected by the lava, government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in a statement, according to Reuters. Three health centers, a primary school and a water pipeline were destroyed, he said.