By CISA
GOMA, JUNE 4, 2021 (CISA) –Rt. Rev. Willy Ngumbi Ngengele, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Goma, has called for aid for the people fleeing the city of Goma after government advised residents to move to safer places following volcanic eruption of Mt Nyiragongo.
“We call on the government, members of the international community and people of goodwill to support our people moving in all directions as a result of threats of another eruption,” Bishop Ngengele said May 29.
The Bishop also asked churches to assist the displaced people move to safer places by providing them with transport.
“I invite priests and the religious to make available to vulnerable people the necessary means of transport,” he said urging citizens to respect the advice of the authorities, because the volcano is ‘unpredictable.’
At about 7:00 p.m. on May 22, Mt Nyiragongo erupted and lava began to flow towards the city of Goma about 20 kilometers to the south, destroying hundreds of homes and buildings.
“Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants fled in different directions. Some went to Rwanda, others to Bukavo, others still headed to North Kivu, leaving their homes completely abandoned. Numerous children are missing, while the most vulnerable citizens have been exposed to more risks,” said Nelson Mantama, head of Social Communications for the Youth Ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Goma.
The government ordered nearly a third of the city’s residents to evacuate areas that are at risk explaining that magma had been detected underneath Goma and nearby Lake Kivu.
