The balance of fatalities from the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano, located in the surroundings of the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has risen to more than 30, as confirmed by the authorities of the African country.

The government delegation that has traveled to Goma to analyze the situation on the ground has indicated that the death toll amounts to 31, most of them calcined by the lava or suffocated by the toxic gases emitted by the volcano, as reported by the Congolese news portal Actualité.

During the day on Monday, several bodies were located in the surroundings of Goma, all of them people who died from gas inhalation.. “I ask the population to remain vigilant,” said the head of the Lago Verde neighborhood, Dedesi Mitima, in statements to the 7sur7 portal.

The volcanic eruption, which took place on Saturday, has also caused power cuts that affect 60 percent of the city's population, which also faces problems in the water supply due to material damage caused by the rivers. of lava.

On the other hand, the DRC Minister of Transport, Chérubin Okende Senga, has authorized the opening of the Bukavu airport, while the Goma airport will remain closed until further notice and with a no-fly zone due to the danger posed by emissions from Nyiragongo , according to the Congolese radio station Radio Okapi.

The eruption has taken place at a time when humanitarian needs are already high and growing in North Kivu province, home to 44 percent of the DRC's five million internally displaced persons and where 3.2 million people, or 33 percent of the population, already suffer from severe food insecurity.

In this context, both the United Nations and the international community are working to support the Government's efforts to help those affected by the eruption, through the provision of emergency humanitarian aid.. In addition, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has also mobilized its air resources “to monitor the situation. For his part, the spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, indicated on Monday that, despite the fact that the people who fled after the eruption – the majority to Sake, in North Kivu, or to Rwanda – are returning , there is still seismic activity in the area.