Nearly 14,000 Congolese nationals have fled to Rwanda after warning of a second eruption, officials have confirmed.

The warning of a possible second eruption was issued by Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, the governor of North Kivu, who announced evacuation of nine villages in Goma city in eastern DR Congo.

Residents of Goma started evacuating the city in the early hours of Thursday. 

Rwandan custom authorities said border crossings into Rwanda started at 6am.

By midday Friday, a total of 13,895 had crossed the Rubavu border, with most of them hosted at three camps in Rugerero, Busasamana and Nyundo.

"I came yesterday because our authorities said there was an imminent danger," Colette Uzima, who came from Bujovu, a neighborhood in Goma city. 

"We have been well received. We have been given bread and milk. What we need for now is bedclothes."

Among those, who fled to Rwanda, were personnel of different international organizations based in Goma, such as The United Nations.

"The governor sent us [a warning] that we should relocate," a member of the UN Police who preferred anonymity told The New Times.

The Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA) in partnership with different humanitarian aid agencies provide foodstuffs and sanitation materials.

About 3500 refugees are hosted at an emergency camp in Rugerero; they include Rwandan nationals, who had been in Goma.

"I arrived in Rwanda this morning from Nyabushongo. I'm Rwandan but Covid-19 hit when I was in Goma," Jean-Pierre Habiyambere, whose family lives in Rubavu District, told The New Times on Friday.

The border remains open, according to Gilbert Habyarimana, the Mayor of Rubavu District, but the crossings have lessened.