After a major earthquake, more than 20,000 people were left homeless and 40 people are still missing volcanic eruptions The United Nations said dozens of people were killed in the earthquake in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and continued to cause strong earthquakes in the nearby city of Goma.

Send out Saturday’s eruption Lava river It flows down from the slopes of Mount Nyiragongo, destroying hundreds of houses and forcing thousands to flee, but it is less than 300 meters (984 feet) from Goma Airport, the main hub of aid operations in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. ) Stopped.

This lakeshore city of 1.5 million people is about 12 kilometers (8 miles) from the volcano.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement on Wednesday that the volcanic ash cloud caused by the volcanic eruption has closed the airports of Goma and Bukavu and may cause respiratory diseases.

OCHA said people who fled their homes lost valuable property, including motorcycles that were consumed or looted by the lava flow.

The death toll from this eruption rose to 32 on Tuesday.

Since then, more than 200 small and medium earthquakes have caused cracks in buildings and streets in Goma.

Fissures about 60 cm (2 feet) wide in some places made residents uncertain whether the danger has passed and caused panic.

Susanne Bigakura, 65, told Reuters: “I was very young yesterday, right across from my house, but it has expanded today.” “It’s scary. We are worried that it will collapse, and our children will be too. Fall in.”

“This makes me feel scared, because those who saw the 2002 volcanic eruption told us that where the crack crossed, the consequences would be catastrophic. Now, when we saw the crack after the most recent eruption, I was worried that we were in In danger,” said welder Valentin Kikuni.

Some cracks opened in the road, obstructing traffic.

Worried about the collapse of the house, many people sleep on mattresses outside, but fortunately sleep under mosquito nets.

Residents felt regular tremors throughout the night, and Africa’s most active volcano erupted with two strong shocks, setting off widespread alarm bells and leaving the frightened people homeless.

RSM, an earthquake monitoring agency in neighboring Rwanda (the border is close to Goma), said it had detected a magnitude 5.1 earthquake at 5:46 am (3:46 GMT), followed by a 4.1 earthquake at 6:12 am

As a precaution, the authorities closed markets, shops and some construction sites.

Emergency workers said that on Tuesday, at least four buildings in Goma partially collapsed, including a three-story building, and eight people were seriously injured.

Residents displaced by the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo are waiting to register to receive some aid distributed in Goma by local politicians and businessmen [Guerchom Ndebo/AFP]

Since Nyiragongo returned to life, local volcanologists have recorded hundreds of aftershocks, with 119 on Monday alone, but he said that people hope this feared volcano will calm down .

Government officials who visited Goma on Monday announced several relief measures, including payment of victims’ funeral expenses, provision of roofing materials, food and medicine, psychological counseling and emergency repairs to damaged infrastructure.

But the residents are still nervous. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Rwanda said that hundreds of people are hiding in refugee camps in Rwanda and many are still fleeing there.

Ships transported hundreds of people from Goma to Bukavu, an area located about 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) along the coast of Lake Kivu.

OCHA said a 1.7-kilometer (1 mile) lava river blocked the main road north of Goma and is still too hot to be cleared, preventing trade to one of the most food-insecure regions in Africa And the delivery of assistance.

However, according to the image on the government’s Twitter feed, some work to restore the road has already begun.

Nyiragongo straddles the Great Rift Valley structural gap and is a so-called advection volcano measuring nearly 3,500 meters (11,500 feet).

Its last large-scale eruption was in 2002, killing nearly 100 people.