Indian Army rushes to aid Congo town hit by volcano eruption

 

 

 

AFTER Mount Nyaragongo, an active volcano overlooking Congo’s Goma town erupted, Indian Army on Saturday rushed to assist in evacuation of locals and other UN personnel in the affected region. Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades on Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.

 

Notably, the Indian Army has a significant presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of MONUSCO, a UN peacekeeping mission headquartered in the eastern town of Goma and bordering Rwanda. The Army in an official statement said that the Indian Brigade headquarters is located adjacent to the Goma airfield.

 

It said that most of the lava from the volcanic eruption has flowed towards Rwanda and only a small stream is trickling towards Goma. “As a precautionary measure, various country contingents were told to be on the alert by the UN’s internal security system who calculated that evacuation will not be required. However, a majority of the country contingents including aviation contingents evacuated immediately,” Army said.