Seventeen killed in attack on Virunga National Park.

Seventeen people, described as twelve park rangers and five civilians, have been killed in an attack near the Virunga National Park's headquarters at Bukima in North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Friday 24 April 2020. The rangers were reportedly investigating an attack on a civilian vehicle, when they themselves came under attack from a group of about 60 armed militiamen. In addition to the deaths another two civilians and three rangers were injured, one of whom is described as being in a critical condition. The attackers are believed to have belonged to the Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi, and armed group affiliated with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a group which has controlled the southwestern part of the park since fleeing Rwanda after losing the civil war of 1994. The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda control a lucrative charcoal industry in the parts of the park they control, and are rumoured to be protected by powerful contacts within the national army, but the park's authorities have recently begun to try to re-assert their authority in the area. The park has been closed to tourists since May 2018, due to attacks by armed groups.

A vehicle used by Virungu National Park Rangers that came under attack by militiamen on Friday 24 April 2020. Noel Kambanda/Twitter.

The civil war in Rwanda in 1994 led to hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, destabilising the area and helping to trigger the Congolese civil war of 1996-2003 which killed an estimated five million people, and destroyed much of what little infrastructure existed in the east of the country. This situation was further exasperated by refugees and militia groups fleeing conflicts in South Sudan and Uganda, and by military incursions by several neighbouring countries seeking access to the area's rich reserves of gold and coltan minerals.

This has led to a situation where much of the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo was in the hands of a variety of militia groups, many of which also control mining encampments, and are at least in part dependent on bushmeat (hunted game) for sustenance. Against this background the Congolese parks authorities have struggled to re-assert their authority in the region, with more than 150 rangers from the Institut Congolais pourla Conservation de la Nature having been killed in action over the past 20 years.

 A civilian vehicle targeted by members of the Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi in order to lure Rangers from the Virungu National Park into an ambush on Friday 24 April 2020. Noel Kambanda/Twitter.

The Virunga National Park formerly derived about 20% of its income from tourism, with the rest coming from international donors, but these tourists have become a focus for militia activity, as they are seen as wealthy foreigners from which money can be obtained.

The Rangers killed in Friday's attack have been named as Kadhafi Abedi, 23, Lumumba Anuari, 27, Djamali Badi, 27, Junior Fazili, 29, Jean-Louis Kambale, 28, Joseph Kasole, 30, Augustin Mugisho, 27, Jeannot Muhindo, 30, Jacques Muhindo, 29, Hértier Ndagijimana, 27, and Moise Paluku, 30. Only one of the civilians killed had been identified so far, Ruphin Masumbuko, believed to have been the driver of the vehicle.

 Lumumba Anuari, 27, one of twelve park rangers killed in an attack by militiamen on workers at the Virungu National Park on Friday 24 April 2020. Honorable D'jessy M'boma/Facebook.

The Fallen Rangers Fund collects funds internationally to help support the families of Rangers killed in the line of duty within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Virunga National Park guide killed protecting British tourists.

A guide at the Virunga National Park has been killed while attempting to protect a pair of British tourists from militiamen in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rachel Masika Baraka, 25, was killed in the incident in which two British tourists, named as Robert Jesty and Bethan Davies, and a local driver, were kidnapped on Friday 11 May 2018. She is thought to have been the first female guide to have been killed in the park, and the 175th guide killed since the park first opened in 1925, and has been described as a selfless and dedicated conservationist by her colleagues. All three of the kidnap victims were later released unharmed.

Park guide Rachel Masika Baraka, 25, killed in an attack on tourists on 11 May 2018. Virunga National Park.

The civil war in Rwanda in 1994 led to hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, destabilising the area and helping to trigger the Congolese civil war of 1996-2003 which killed an estimated five million people, and destroyed much of what little infrastructure existed in the east of the country. This situation was further exasperated by refugees and militia groups fleeing conflicts in South Sudan and Uganda, and by military incursions by several neighbouring countries seeking access to the area's rich reserves of gold and coltan minerals.

This has led to a situation where much of the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo was in the hands of a variety of militia groups, many of which also control mining encampments, and are at least in part dependent on bushmeat (hunted game) for sustenance. Against this background the Congolese parks authorities have struggled to re-assert their authority in the region, with more than 150 rangers from the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature having been killed in action over the past 20 years.

The Virunga National Park derives about 20% of its income from tourism, with the rest coming from international donors, but these tourists have become a focus for militia activity, as they are seen as wealthy foreigners from which money can be obtained. Following last Friday's attack the park has been closed to tourism while the situation is reviewed.

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Eruptions from new vent on Mount Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Observatoire Volcanologique de Goma has raised concerns about the possibility of a major eruptive episode on Mount Nyiragongo in the Virungu Mountiains of the North Kivu Province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Local people in the area began to report loud and continuous rumblings from the volcano early in February 2016, and an expedition to the volcano by staff at the observatory at the beginning of March found that a new vent had opened at the northeastern end of the lower crater terrace, with lava issuing from this and forming a second lava lake (such a lake has been present at the volcano's main vent since 2002). A second visit to the volcano on 10-11 March found that lava had begun to flow from the new lake into the original one, though overall activity did seem to have subsided slightly.

The new lava lake on Mount Nyiragongo on 11 March 2016. Note lava flowing from the lake on the right side of the image. Observatoire Volcanologique de Goma.

This vent is considered to be particularly dangerous as it lies on one of two major fracture zones which run through the volcano. Eruptions on these fracture zones can cause the main edifice of the volcano to split, allowing lava that has built up in lakes within the central caldera over years or decades to drain rapidly, leading to rapidly flowing lava flows that spread over the surrounding countryside. The most recent two such episodes, in 1977 and 2002, both killed over a thousand people each, with a lava flow from the 2002 eruption destroying a large part of the town of Goma.

 

 The new lava lake on 28 February 2016.

Nyiragongo and neighbouring volcano Nyamuragira account for 40% of all volcanic activity on the African continent. They produce a low silicone basalt. This tends to have a very low viscosity, i.e. it flows very freely, rapidly covering a wide area. Because of this few people choose to live near the mountains, so they are seldom a threat to human life, though it has in the past caused problems for vulnerable wildlife populations, such as the human-familiarised chimpanzees and gorillas of Virungu National Park.

Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo lie on the Eastern Branch of the East African Rift; most volcanoes in this area produce more typical siliclastic lavas, but there are several other basaltic volcanoes in the area, such as the less active Visoke, which last erupted in 1957, and the inactive Karasimbi, Mikeno and Muhavura volcanoes. The Western Branch of the Rift Valley also has basaltic volcanoes, most notably Ol Doinyo Lengi, to the south of Lake Natron in Tazania, the worlds only active carbonitic volcano (i.e a volcano that produces lavas containing carbonate compounds), and the nearby extinct, but dramatic, Mount Shombole.

 The locations of Nyamuragira (purple) and Nyiragongo (red). Google Maps.

The East African Rift is slowly splitting the African Plate in two along a line from the Red Sea through Ethiopia, and which includes the great lakes and volcanoes of east-central Africa. This has the potential to open into a new ocean over the next few tens of millions of years, splitting Africa into two new, smaller, continents; Nubia to the west and Somalia to the east.

Movement on the African Rift Valley, with associated volcanoes. Rob Gamesby/Cool Geography.

Eruptions from Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo also tend to be unusually rich in Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂), with the volcano producing a large proportion of all the volcanic SO₂ that enters our atmosphere. To give this a sense of proportion, about 75% of all the SO₂ entering our atmosphere originates from the burning of fossil fuels. The effects of SO₂ in the atmosphere are a little complicated. Firstly it is poisonous, though this is only a danger close to the source where it is concentrated. Since most people avoid going close to active volcanoes, this usually only presents a hazard to professional volcanologists. Secondly it mixes with water to form sulphuric acid, i.e. acid rain, which can be a major problem downwind of volcanic eruptions and large industrial centres, with the rain causing severe damage to vegetation and aquatic life. Thirdly SO₂ droplets act as coolant. Since both volcanic and industrial SO₂ is usually produced alongside larger quantities of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), which is a greenhouse gas, this is usually a negligible effect, but cooler weather can be produced downwind of major eruptions, as the CO₂ disperses more rapidly than the SO₂.

See also...

Magnitude 5.5 Earthquake on the western shore of Lake Kivu.                              The United States Geological Survey Recorded a Magnitude 5.5. Earthquake at a depth of 10 km beneath the western shore of Lake Kivu, which forms the...

Volcanic activity on Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo volcanoes in Central Africa. NASA's Landsat 8 satellite observed volcanic activity on the Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo volcanoes in the Virunga National Park, to the northeast of the city of Goma, on 30 June...

Seismic activity on Mount Nyamulagira, Democratic Republic of Congo.        The Volcanic Observatory of Goma have issued a warning of a possible impending eruption on Mount Nyamulagira, an active volcano close to Mount Nyiragongo in the Virungu Mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, about 25 km to the north of Lake Kivu. Mount Nyamalugira is...

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Volcanic activity on Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo volcanoes in Central Africa.

NASA's Landsat 8 satellite observed volcanic activity on the Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo volcanoes in the Virunga National Park, to the northeast of the city of Goma, on 30 June 2014. Iridescent lava lakes could be seen in the craters of both volcanoes, and a plume could be seen above Mount Nyamuragira. The two volcanoes are about 11 km apart and extremely active, Nyamuragira having last erupted in 2012 and Nyiragongo in January this year, and both are considered to be extremely dangerous due to their tendency to produce rapid flowing lava flows.

False colour image combining shortwave-infrared, near-infrared, and green light as red, green, and blue, respectively. NASA/Earth Observatory.

Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo account for 40% of all volcanic activity on the African continent. They produce a low silicone basalt. This tends to have a very low viscosity, i.e. it flows very freely, rapidly covering a wide area. Because of this few people choose to live near the mountains, so they are seldom a threat to human life, though it has in the past caused problems for vulnerable wildlife populations, such as the human-familiarized chimpanzees and gorillas of Virungu National Park.

Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo lie on the Eastern Branch of the East African Rift; most volcanoes in this area produce more typical siliclastic lavas, but there are several other basaltic volcanoes in the area, such as the less active Visoke, which last erupted in 1957, and the inactive Karasimbi, Mikeno and Muhavura volcanoes. The Western Branch of the Rift Valley also has basaltic volcanoes, most notably Ol Doinyo Lengi, to the south of Lake Natron in Tazania, the worlds only active carbonitic volcano (i.e a volcano that produces lavas containing carbonate compounds), and the nearby extinct, but dramatic, Mount Shombole.

The East African Rift is slowly splitting the African Plate in two along a line from the Red Sea through Ethiopia, and which includes the great lakes and volcanoes of east-central Africa. This has the potential to open into a new ocean over the next few tens of millions of years, splitting Africa into two new, smaller, continents; Nubia to the west and Somalia to the east.

The locations of Nyamuragira (purple) and Nyiragongo (red). Google Maps.

Eruptions from Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo also tend to be unusually rich in Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂), with the volcano producing a large proportion of all the volcanic SO₂ that enters our atmosphere. To give this a sense of proportion, about 75% of all the SO₂ entering our atmosphere originates from the burning of fossil fuels. The effects of SO₂ in the atmosphere are a little complicated. Firstly it is poisonous, though this is only a danger close to the source where it is concentrated. Since most people avoid going close to active volcanoes, this usually only presents a hazard to professional volcanologists. Secondly it mixes with water to form sulphuric acid, i.e. acid rain, which can be a major problem downwind of volcanic eruptions and large industrial centers, with the rain causing severe damage to vegetation and aquatic life. Thirdly SO₂ droplets act as coolant. Since both volcanic and industrial SO₂ is usually produced alongside larger quantities of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), which is a greenhouse gas, this is usually a negligible effect, but cooler weather can be produced downwind of major eruptions, as the CO₂ disperses more rapidly than the SO₂.

See also...

 Seismic activity on Mount Nyamulagira, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Volcanic Observatory of Goma have issued a warning of a possible impending eruption on Mount Nyamulagira, an active volcano close to Mount Nyiragongo in the Virungu Mountains of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, about 25 km to the north of...


 The movement of deep magma beneath the Afar Depression.

The Afar Depression lies at at northernmost end of Africa's Great Rift Valley, where it meets the sea at the junction between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. All three of these features are areas of...


 Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake under Lake Albert in central Africa.

A Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake occurred at a depth of 30.8 km beneath...

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