GOMA (voa) – Thousands of residents of the volcano-ruined Congolese town of Goma are trying to get around a field of still-steaming lava to get home despite warnings that poison gas and cholera may await them.
United Nations officials want an estimated 300-thousand refugees to go to relief camps in nearby Rwanda. They say the air in burned-out Goma may be polluted with poison gas from the lava.
Molten lava wiped out Goma’s water purification plants, leaving only water from a polluted lake to drink and the officials say that poses the danger of a deadly cholera outbreak.
But many refugees say they would rather face those risks than live in a U.N. camp.
Meanwhile, the volcano, Mount Nyiragongo, continues to tremble and smoke after erupting Thursday. At least 45 people are known dead, but officials fear the toll could be much higher. When Mount Nyiragongo erupted, about 500,000 of Goma’s residents fled in panic, many going to the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi.
Quick-flowing molten lava streams poured into Goma from the volcano 10 kilometers away. The Red Cross says 80 percent of Goma was damaged or destroyed by the flows that measured up to 100 meters wide and three meters tall.
Aid workers call the situation a humanitarian crisis and are pleading for more help. They say there is a desperate need for more food, water, tents and other supplies.
Pope John Paul II urged more aid for the volcano victims during his speech to pilgrims Sunday at Saint Peter’s Square.
