Four people, three women and a man, lost their lives this Monday, May 5 in the town of Kasengezi located between the city of Goma and the territory of Masisi. According to the North Kivu civil protection service, the victims were suffocated while they were looking for firewood in a sand extraction area, near the Virunga park. According to the observation, deaths would be due to the inhalation of Mazuku gas, a known phenomenon which means “bad wind” in Swahili.
“In total, four people, a man and three women died asphyxiated in Kasengezi, according to our observation. The victims succumbed to asphyxiation caused by methane gas, which surprised them in a sand extraction area. To date, their identity remains unknown, because neither women nor man carried identity documents. Their bodies were directly led to the morgue of the provincial hospital in North Kivu. According to our observations, they had gone in search of firewood, as evidenced by the strings and the equipment they had taken away to pick up wood in the park, “said Kavatsawa, firefighter and agent at the civil protection service.
This toxic, colorless and odorless gas, from intense volcanic activity in the region, is concentrated in depressional areas, often without the knowledge of the population. In a few minutes, it can cause deadly asphyxiation.
The Mazuku phenomenon is well documented in this volcanic region of North Kivu, especially around Lake Kivu and near the Nyiragongo volcano. Despite the multiple alerts and calls from environmental organizations working in Goma and Masisi, the authorities have never taken concrete measures to report these dangerous areas.
“For years, we have been demanding signaling panels in risk areas. Nothing has been done. Even today, lives are lost, ”deplores a member of a local NGO.
The situation is all the more worrying since this area welcomes many displaced, fleeing armed conflicts in neighboring territories. In 2024, the Volcanological Observatory of Goma (OVG) had nevertheless given local authorities a map of the areas affected by the Mazuku, with the aim of preventing this type of tragedy. But no concrete action has followed.
Josué mutan was, to gum
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