Volcano Erupts Near Congolese City of Goma

Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades on Saturday, painting the night sky a flaming red and spewing lava over a major highway as scared locals attempted to evacuate Goma, a city of almost 2 million people.

There were no initial reports of injuries, but witnesses reported lava had already consumed one of the highways connecting Goma and Beni in North Kivu region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Wgg7bDMrc

The latest eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, in 2002, killed hundreds of people and covered airport runways in lava. More than 100,000 people were displaced as a result, escalating the terror in Goma on Saturday night.

"We are already in a total psychosis," resident Zacharie Paluku told The Associated Press. "Everyone is afraid; people are running away. We really don't know what to do."

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi announced that he would come home from Europe on Sunday, a day earlier than anticipated, to assist in the coordination of relief efforts.

The Congolese government announced an evacuation plan, but it took several hours for the sky to turn a flaming red, and many people had already gone on foot in the hopes of crossing the Rwandan border post just outside town. As panicked people rushed to flee, car horns honked and motorcycle taxis swerved.