(Goma) La ville de Goma, dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), a été « épargnée » par les laves du volcan de Nyiragongo, entré en éruption samedi soir, a déclaré dimanche matin le gouverneur militaire de la région.
« Les laves se sont arrêtées vers Buhene, en périphérie de Goma, […] “The city has escaped,” said General Constant Ndima, in a short audio address to residents via the public media.
“The provisional outcome is as follows: Five people were killed in accidents during the displacement of the population,” said General Ndima, who has been presiding over North Kivu province since the state of siege was declared in the region on May 6 to fight armed groups.
PHOTO GUERCHOM NDEBO, French press agency
Lava from the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo passes through a residential area in Goma.
He explained that “several thefts from shops and trying to escape prisoners” were recorded in the city prison, but “the situation is under control.”
The general said that on the outskirts of the city, in Bauhinia, “homes were destroyed by lava,” without giving a quantitative assessment of this destruction.
Photo by Justin Kabumba, Associate Press
Residents of Bauhiné, on the outskirts of Goma, took self-portraits in front of a lava flow.
More than 7,000 people crossed the border into Rwanda. They began to return to the city at about five in the morning local time. ”
Residents who fled to the southwest, towards Sake, in the Masisi area, “also began to return to the city center,” according to the senior officer.
A major crisis meeting spilled over to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) [mission de l’ONU dans le pays]He also announced that international and national NGOs, the Regional Security Committee and the City Council “will be convening this Sunday” to assess the situation. ”