Following the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in North Kivu, province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over half a million in the city of Goma have been left without access to clean drinking water .
Despite teams from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) helping with provision of water, many more humanitarian organizations are urged to urgently help in the assistance.
“We are assisting the immediate needs of displaced people, but it is not enough,” says Magali Roudaut, MSF head of mission in DRC. “More clean water should be urgently provided; cholera is endemic in the area and poses a huge threat to people, including to the host communities.”
“There are urgent needs that are still unmet such as food, latrines, shelters, blankets, and jerrycans for water,” says Roudaut. “We demand urgent support of other humanitarian organisations to assist people.”
According to the UN, 10 days ago Mount Nyiragongo 10km from Goma spewed lava killing 32 people.
In an attempt to assess the level of risk experts have flown drones into a second smoking crater where molten lava has been spitting out of the ground.
MSF noted that its teams were providing medical services in the nearby towns “where between 100,000 and 180,000 people are gathering in churches, schools, mosques, and on the streets”.