Volcanoes Pose New Threat for Refugees
GOMA, Zaire — Volcanic activity near Rwandan refugee camps raised concern among aid officials Friday that hundreds of thousands who fled civil war may be forced to flee again.
The Nyirangongo volcano, a few miles from the Kibumba camp, has been giving off a red glow, indicating the presence of a lava lake in the crater. An eruption of that volcano killed 1,000 people in 1977.
The Nyamuragira volcano, 20 miles north of Goma, has produced a lava flow out of its southwest flank, a volcano expert at the U.S. Geological Survey said.
An eruption of Nyirangongo would force the evacuation of both the Kibumba and Katale camps, which contain two-thirds of the 900,000 refugees in the area, a U.N. spokesman said.
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