Fears more volcanic eruptions and toxic gas –

This week, one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, Nyiragongo, woke up. Hundreds of thousands are now fleeing the million-strong city of Goma. Among these are 80 children in a Norwegian-run orphanage.

– There are large pockets of methane gas and carbon dioxide (CO₂) at the bottom of Lake Kivu. If there is enough lava at the bottom of the lake, it can leak out large amounts of toxic gas. That is why everyone at the orphanage fled up into the mountains today, says Tommy Rasmussen, initiator and chairman of the board of the Goma orphanage, to Dagbladet.

Fear rebels

Rasmussen has sent Dagbladet a number of photos and videos of the children and employees while they evacuate. They smile and wave and seem to be fine. They have tents with them to live in some mountains further up.

– The children think they are on an excursion and are happy to be in nice mountain areas. At the same time, everything is far more serious. They escape from the gas, but into an area where there are rebel groups and guerrillas, says Rasmussen.

The northeastern part of DR Congo is one of the world’s most dangerous places on earth, with hundreds of different rebel groups fighting an ungovernable government army. Every day, around 6,000 new people flee internally in the country.

The country has over 90 million inhabitants, of which over half are children. One in three suffers from hunger. Now one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes, Nyiragongo, has erupted. The last time was in 2002, when over 250 people died.

– Now our people are in the middle of the jungle, which is an eldorado for guerrillas. Extortion and kidnapping are now the biggest challenge, says Rasmussen.

– Better lead was

Goma has around two million inhabitants. Most do not have a car or other fast means of transportation. Evacuating a city where people either have to cycle or walk, thus takes time.

– Nobody knows exactly what will happen to the volcano now, so I understand that local authorities must ask people to evacuate, for safety. It takes an enormous amount of time to evacuate, says geologist and volcano expert Sara Callegaro, who works at the University of Oslo, but who has had a week’s study stay at the Nyiragongo volcano.

– Kivu has a pool of methane and carbon dioxide at the bottom, but historically, dangerous gases have never come out of Lake Kivu. Neither in 1977 nor in 2002. There is not much probability of that now either, but at the same time one does not quite know with a volcano. So I understand that the authorities have asked people to evacuate the city, says Callegaro.

Lava Lake

Nyiragongo Volcano is one of seven volcanoes in the world that have a continuous lava lake in the middle of the crater (see Callegaro’s image below).

– But right now the lava lake is gone, which means that the lava is moving somewhere underground, Callegaro says and continues:

– Historically, it has not happened, and Lake Kivu is huge. During the eruption in 2002, lava came into the lake, but since it is so large, the lava cooled down immediately. The lava never managed to reach the bottom, and where the carbon dioxide and methane lie.

Thus, geologists do not believe that there is any danger of gas eruptions.

– But one never quite knows with a volcano, and local authorities can not risk that something can happen, the researcher says.

Volcano under lake

But what scientists fear is that part of the volcano’s interior could go under the huge Kivu lake.

– It can create a different risk, in that lava enters the lake from below, and that earthquakes can cause landslides inside the lake. And that earthquakes again can destabilize the gas reservoir layer in the lake, says Callegaro.

What will now happen to the volcano is not known. But all the geologists in the world are watching.

– Everything can die tomorrow, or it can suddenly increase in strength. We do not know. Another thing that is special about this particular volcano is that the lava flows much faster than most other volcanoes. It can run at 40-50 kilometers per hour, which is also a reason why the authorities have to get the inhabitants away from the city. It is more unpredictable, says the researcher.

Lives in the mountains

So far, the children at Tommy Rasmussen’s orphanage are well up in the mountains.

– We hope and believe everything will go well. But the inhabitants of the northeastern Congo have been hard hit by war and conflict, so we hope they escape the worst now, says Rasmussen.

He is a builder and carpenter by trade, and decided in 2009 that he would help some of the world’s needy. More or less by chance, he ended up joining and building an orphanage in Goma, in addition to starting the New Chance Foundation, which runs it.

– There are 80 children living in the orphanage. They have none. There they get schooling, clothes and food. We also run schools, hospitals and power plants, says Rasmussen.

He has not been to DR Congo since 2019, due to the corona pandemic. Now he is still considering going down to help.