A volcano in Africa has erupted and sprayed “fountains” of lava that are expected to flow into a nearby city, where 250 people died almost 20 years ago.
There was “panic” as the night sky turned a reddish orange and local authorities issued a “red alert” while Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, erupted on Saturday.
Local journalists said the area was put on “red alert” and there was panic as people waited for advice from the authorities.
Dario Tedesco, a volcanologist in Goma, told Reuters: “I can see high lava fountains and I think it’s likely it will be in Goma very soon.
“For the moment people are not evacuating.”
Mr Tedesco said the volcano has some of the fastest lava in the world.
Later, video posted on Twitter showed residents carrying belongings as they moved to other districts.
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Other clips showed people gathered in a street in Goma, just over 10 miles away from the volcano, as they watched the eruption.
The director of civil protection in North Kivu province said “we are on red alert” as residents reported the eruption, journalist Pascal Mulegwa tweeted.
Another journalist, Martial Papy Mukeba, wrote on Twitter that there was “panic” in Goma as people waited for more information from officials.
(Image: Getty Images)
Nyiragongo last erupted in 2002, killing 250 people and making 120,000 homeless after lava flowed into Goma.
The victims died from asphyxiation by carbon dioxide and when buildings collapsed due to the lava flow and earthquakes, which continued for three months after the eruption.
At least 70 people were killed during an eruption in 1977.
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Volcano watchers have been worried that the volcanic activity observed in the last five years mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.
Volcanologists at the Goma Volcano Observatory (OVG), which monitors Nyiragongo, have struggled to make basic checks since the World Bank cut funding amid embezzlement allegations.
Nyiragongo has an elevation of 11,385ft and is set within Congo’s Virunga National Park, about 12 miles north of Goma.
The volcano’s main crater, which is about a mile wide, normally contains a lava lake.