In a very tragic incident torrents of lava poured into villages after dark in eastern Congo with little warning, leaving at least 15 people dead amid the chaos and destroying more than 500 homes, officials and survivors said Sunday.
Mount Nyiragongo erupted on Saturday night, sending about 5,000 people fleeing from the city of Goma across the border into Rwanda.
Another 25,000 people headed northwest to Sake, in the province of North Kivu.
More than 170 children are missing and UN officials are organising transit centres to help unaccompanied children.
Goma ultimately was largely spared the mass destruction caused by the volcano’s last eruption in 2002. Hundreds died then and more than 1,00,000 people were left homeless. But in outlying villages closer to the volcano, Sunday was marked by grief and uncertainty.
