Nyiragongo eruption: flight, the only possible option for thousands of Goma residents
Audio 01:20
Residents of Goma arrive in the town of Sake 25 km to the north-west to flee the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano on May 27, 2021. AFP - GUERCHOM NDEBO
Text by: RFI Follow
6 mins
Tens of thousands of residents of Goma have dispersed since early Thursday morning following the alert from the governor of North Kivu on the risk of eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano.
Some left for the border with Rwanda, others for Bukavu, in South Kivu.
Publicity
Read more
With our special
correspondent in Bukavu,
William Basimike
Looking frightened, Ruphine Muhindo is about to get off the
Aganze
boat
and set foot on Bukavu soil.
She saved nothing, except for her 5-year-old daughter, whom she grabs by the hand, and a few things gathered in a small bag which she holds in the other.
“
I followed the governor's statement and I was ordered out of obligation to leave town.
I didn't have time to take my shower, I just took pants and put one on my daughter… We didn't take anything else, we left everything at home, we is gone,
”says the young woman.
► See also: Goma evacuated in the face of disaster risks linked to the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano
Next to her, Franck Mwinda, a resident of the Office 1 district of Goma, is also getting ready to go down, but he does not know where to go.
“
This is the first time that I travel to Bukavu.
I had nothing prepared!
I wonder what Bukavu could be like.
My family stayed in Goma, they said they were going to go to Sake.
I don't have where to stay, but I'll manage.
"
At the ports, hundreds of family members await theirs.
Colonel Sancho Mufungizi Floribert is among them, he is the second in command of the social service of the 33rd military region of South Kivu.
“
Military families are also in distress.
I come to realize their situation.
I try to comfort them, but I know it's going to be okay.
We know how to register them and take them to places of reception,
”explains the officer.
In a message this Thursday, the provincial minister in charge of humanitarian affairs in South Kivu Cosmos Bishisha affirmed that a site has been set up in the Ndender district of Bukavu with the possibility of also developing another site in the Panzi district, for receive displaced people from Goma who do not have host families.
We are committed alongside many other volunteers to help people find water and places where they can go.
Ghislain Muhiwa, member of Lucha in Goma
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
DRC