United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says aid organisations are working towards reuniting children who have been separated from their families due to the eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tens of thousands of people were affected by the Mount Nyiragongo volcano in the city of Goma, with local authorities reporting 30 deaths.
UNHCR reports most of the thousands who fled on foot as lava flowed down on their towns have returned home. But their return is fraught with anxiety and uncertainty as the full impact of the eruption is not yet known.
‘From the air, the eruption’s path south of the volcano is clear. Two villages on Goma’s northern tip were destroyed and two others were almost completely covered by lava’, UNHCR Spokesman, Boris Cheshirkov, said.
‘Our staff heard testimonies from families who lost their homes, and from others who lost children and other loved ones.
‘Entire neighborhoods have been left without electricity and there are fears of water shortages’.
According to the UN agency, funding is urgently needed to help those affected.
UNHCR says it is preparing to assist those in need of shelter and relief items in the Goma area in coordination with other UN agencies and non-governmental organisations, and in support of the government’s emergency response.
Mount Nyiragongo is one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes. It last erupted in 2002, killing 250 people and making more than 100,000 homeless.
Cheshirkov said that the Red Cross was leading an effort to reunite several hundred children who have been separated from their families.
‘The road leading to northern parts of North Kivu province is also damaged by lava, which will hamper the transport of food and goods to the area around Beni, where some 280,000 people displaced by conflict and insecurity since January 2021 rely on humanitarian aid’, the spokesman added.
This latest disaster comes on top of the over two million people already displaced by brutal violence in North Kivu province, of which Goma is the capital.
Source: UNHCR
Photo source: Reuters/Olivia Acland
