Congo volcano: Ground splits wide open as tens of thousands flee Mount Nyiragongo eruption
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1442299/congo-volcano-eruption-nyiragongo-ground-splits-open-goma-evacuation-evg
Mount Nyiragongo sits just 7.5 miles (12km) north of Goma in eastern Congo, in the Virunga Mountains.
The city on the northern shore of Lake Kivu is home to some 670,000 people in the metropolitan area alone - although up to two million people live in the wider Goma area.
According to a team of volcanologists behind VolcanoDiscovery.com, the ground south of the volcano has risen by several centimetres since the first eruption.
The movement has been greatest in and around Goma, where fissures and cracks have split the ground wide open.
"In the meanwhile, the death toll from the eruption has increased to 32 people, most of which died by secondary causes not the lava itself.
"The lava flows destroyed 2,500 buildings including 3 medical centres."
Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate should the volcano blow again.
Streets have been flooded with people carrying their personal belongings and roads were jammed with cars trying to stay clear of the city.
Authorities announced on Thursday magma was detected under the urban area of Goma, suggesting a second eruption could be on the table.
Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima Kongba, the military governor of Congo’s North Kivu province, warned an eruption could go off at any moment.
He said: "Based on these scientific observations, we cannot currently rule out an eruption on land or under the lake.
"And this could happen with very little, or no, warning."
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on Thursday only seven people have been killed by Nyiragongo's lava flows and another five were suffocated by gas.