Some 400,000 Congolese Face Displacement Due To Risk Of Volcano Eruption - UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) Some 400,000 Congolese, more than half of whom are children, are at risk of being displaced because of a possibility of another volcano eruption, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said in a release on Thursday.

"As the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) advise people living in part of the city of Goma to vacate their homes due to the risk of another volcanic eruption, UNICEF has warned that as many as 400,000 people - including 280,000 children - could be displaced and in need of protection or support," the release said.

UNICAF praised the government's efforts to protect residents in the Red Zone of eastern Goma from risks associated with additional Mount Nyiragongo erruptions.

The UN agency noted that thousands of people fleeing Goma are going to the nearby town of Sake, which is an area prone to cholera outbreaks, after the May 22 volcanic eruption.

"An order by the authorities on Thursday, May 27, that residents of the ten neighborhoods in the east of Goma known as the Red Zone must immediately vacate their homes has seen a further mass exodus. The Zone is thought to be the part of the city most at risk should another eruption occur," the release said.

UNICEF continued to say that many people who left Goma on Thursday traveled on foot, carrying mattresses and cooking utensils.

At least 32 people have died as a direct result of the eruption, including three children, while 40 people have been reported as missing, according to the release.