Around 80,000 households —  400,000 inhabitants — have moved out of the city since Thursday, when a “preventative” evacuation order was given.
Goma was quiet on Saturday, with a handful of vehicles on the semi-deserted streets and only some small shops open, an AFP journalist said.
– ‘Urgent, global support’ –
Most people have headed for Sake, around 25 kilometres west of Goma where tens of thousands are now gathered, or the Rwandan border in the northeast, while others have fled by boat across Lake Kivu.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has said those fleeing needed “urgent, global support”.
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi held a cabinet meeting late Friday in which he called on the government to “redouble its efforts to better deal with the humanitarian situation”.
Criticism has been growing over the government response after Thursday’s evacuation order was met with fear and traffic jams, with many feeling abandoned, not knowing where to go or what to do.
“The state has decided to evacuate the population of Goma and Nyiragongo without giving any help,” citizen movement Lucha tweeted.
Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde defended the government’s response at the cabinet meeting, saying the eruption had “no similarity to previous eruptions in that it occurred without warning signs”.
He also stressed the evacuation took place “in record time”.