The authorities of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ordered this Thursday the evacuation of a part of the city due to the risk of the Nyirangongo volcano eruption, causing the exodus of thousands of people, AFP confirmed.

“Current data on seismicity and soil deformation indicate the presence of magma under the urban area of Eraser, with an extension under Lake Kivu,” declared in a message to the population in the local media, the military governor of North Kivu province, General Constant Ndima.

“Currently, we cannot exclude an eruption on land or under the lake (Kivu) that could occur with little or no warning sign”, the governor told the press, citing the names of four neighborhoods in the city.

“The situation can change quickly, it is under constant surveillance” and in “anticipation of this eventual catastrophe, evacuation is mandatory and will be made to Sake (a town 20 km west of Eraser), it should be done calmly and without haste under the coordination of humanitarians and with the means of transport made available by the provincial authorities in each neighborhood,” the governor explained.

“People should take the minimum, so that everyone has a chance to embark after having carefully closed their houses”, he concluded.

His announcement was followed by the immediate exodus of thousands of people to the southwest, in the direction of the Congolese region of Masisi, and the nearby Rwandan border.

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