Mount Nyamuragira volcano erupts

There appears to be no immediate threat to residents near Mount Nyamuragira in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after it erupted on Thursday, spewing lava to the north towards the towns of Sake and Tonga, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.

"There is no immediate threat to Goma, and the roads are not cut," Sylvie Dossou, an OCHA humanitarian affairs officer in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told IRIN on Friday.

However, OCHA reported that "considerable damage" was expected to the Virunga National Park, in which the volcano is located.

The crater had fractured from east to west and was continuing to flow, OCHA said. The lava fountain was between 100 and 200 metres from the crater and showing no sign to subsiding, it added.

Meanwhile, a plume of smoke was rising from the nearby Mount Nyiragongo, which erupted on 17 January, causing considerable damage in Goma. Presently, light was being reflected around Nyiragongo, where volcanologists were anxious to check the level of lava, said OCHA. A UN assessment team was preparing to survey both volcanoes, using helicopters to be provided by the UN Mission in the DRC, OCHA said.