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A burned house seen in the middle of lava poured from Nyiragongo volcano in Goma town in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Reuters
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The death toll resulting from the eruption of a volcano in the Democratic republic of Congo is likely to be in excess of 150.
A petrol depot swamped in molten lava exploded today, leaving as many as 100 people dead in Goma, the city left in ruins after Mount Nyirangongo erupted last week.
Looters were siphoning fuel when the station ignited.
"There was a group there who took a wrong step. Many of them died," said Mr Azarias Ruberwa, a spokesman for Congolese rebels who control the region. He said between 60 and 100 people were killed.
He said the casualties were the first confirmed deaths resulting directly from the eruption of Mount Nyirangongo, which sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing into neighboring Rwanda.
Hospital sources said another 10 people had been killed and nearly 400 were being treated at hospitals in Goma and in the Rwandan town of Gisenyi, while other unconfirmed reports indicate a death toll of around 40.
An AFPreporter said further tremors were still shaking the region on Monday night although a volcano expert said the risk of more eruptions from Nyirangongo was minimal.
"The current phase of the active eruption is finished. The volcano is quiet," said Mr Jacques Durieux, a vulcanologist working with the United Nations.
Asked whether it was now safe for residents to return, he said: "That is an impossible question. My recommendation is not to live on the foot of any active volcano."
But he ruled out fears of mass suffocation if gases at the bottom of nearby Lake Kivu react dangerously with lava flowing into the water at the Goma shore.
"There is no reason for the methane and carbon dioxide to rise to the surface," he said.
The lava flowed much more slowly than in the previous major eruption of Nyiragongo, which in 1977 killed 2,000 people in one of the fastest moving disasters vulcanologists had ever seen.
Goma, a city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, regained some of its usual bustle Monday.
The residents had streamed back on Sunday over the objections of humanitarian organisations warning of air and water pollution from the lava and the risk of further volcanic activity.
The most pressing needs in Goma were food and water, with residents complaining of an absence of aid distribution in the city.
The United Nations has set up two camps in Gisenyi, to where most of Goma's population fled Thursday, but these remained virtually empty.
Some food was being sold by the side of the road in Goma but not in large quantities.
UN officials have repeatedly said they did not want to distribute available food stocks until the risk of further volcanic eruptions was ruled out.
AFP
