DRC citizens return after fleeing to Rwanda in wake of Nyiragongo’s eruption

Mount Nyiragongo, located in eastern DRC adjacent to Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border, erupted for the first time in 19 years on Saturday.

CAPE TOWN, May 24 (ANA) – The majority of citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo who evacuated to neighbouring Rwanda in the wake of Mount Nyiragongo’s eruption at the weekend have made their way back home after the lava flows subsided.

Mount Nyiragongo, located in eastern DRC adjacent to Lake Kivu and the Rwandan border, erupted for the first time in 19 years on Saturday, TV news channel Al Jazeera reported.

An estimated 8,000 citizens fled to Rubavu in Rwanda after the eruption as authorities called for residents to evacuate the area, Rwanda’s ministry in charge of emergency management said on its social media accounts.

It confirmed that the majority returned home on Sunday morning.

Fortunately, the river of lava from Nyiragongo did not make it to the city of Goma, the military governor of the region General Constant Ndima said on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.

“The lava halted near Buhene on the outskirts of Goma,” Ndima said.

“The city was spared,” he went on to say, adding that a provisional estimate put the death toll at five including fatalities from related accidents following the eruption.

The United Nations World Food Programme said via its Twitter account on Sunday that it was observing the situation and ready to support relief efforts.

DRC government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said there had been several earthquakes within Goma.

Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002 and 250 people were killed while 120,000 were left homeless, according to Al Jazeera.

– African News Agency, Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa