DR Congo's volcanic eruption death toll likely to rise

The death toll from Saturday's volcanic eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is likely to rise further as residents search for their missing loved ones.

On Monday, officials confirmed that 32 people had perished from the disaster, rising from 15 people reported on Sunday.

Joseph Makundi, the head of civil protection for North Kivu province, said nine of the victims burned to death after lava hit their homes, while five died from inhaling smoke or toxic gas as they walked across the cooling lava.

Another 14 people were killed in a truck rollover accident while four others were prisoners trying to break out of Munzenze central prison in Goma, capital of North Kivu, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Following the eruption that left about 5,000 people homeless, most people fled either towards Sake in North Kivu or across the Rwandan border.

On Sunday, the Rwanda Ministry of Emergency Management said it had received about 8,000 Congolese seeking refuge. However, after the eruption stopped, those who had been evacuated started going back home.

In a statement on the same day, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund said more than 150 children had been separated from their families and more than 170 children were feared to be missing as people fled the city of Goma, after the eruption.

According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the disaster led to blockage of the road between Rutshuru and Goma, the main supply line for food into Goma.

Additionally, power lines and water supplies were damaged and cut off for approximately half a million people.

The lava flow stopped at Buhene, 1.3 kilometers from Goma International Airport, leading to closure of the airport. This affected the movement of staff and supplies, as well as evacuations.

On Monday, authorities said even though the volcanic activity had subsided, an ongoing seismic swarm with several strong earthquakes was recorded on the KivuSNet seismic network.

The Goma Volcano Observatory, the Congolese scientific institute in charge of monitoring the Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes, has not been properly functioning for almost a year, after the World Bank cut funding over corruption allegations.

Katcho Karume, the observatory's director, last year warned that the volcano's lava lake was filling fast, increasing chances of an eruption, the BBC reported.

The last Mount Nyiragongo eruption occurred in 2002, spewing a 3-kilometer high cloud of ash and between 5-25 million cubic meters of lava into Goma.

The eruption killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

Nyiragongo is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous, because its lava flows are extremely fast and can travel at speeds of up to 100 kilometer per hour. Also, many people live close to the volcano, according to the United Nations Office for Project Service.

When the volcano erupted in 2002, the population of Goma was estimated at 400,000; today, it's more than a million.

Another disastrous eruption happened in 1977, killing 40 to 300 people after the lava covered villages.