A number of services have been closed in the border city of Rubavu following a series of earthquakes that have damaged peoples properties and infrastructure in the town and its environs. The affected activities include medical services at the Rubavu District Hospital, part of the main market in town, and banking services at two branches of Bank of Kigali as well as a teachers saving and credit cooperative, Umwalimu Sacco. Most of the closed services are located in the way of a fissure that has developed across the city and has been attributed to the Nyiragongo Volcano, which erupted on Saturday. The fissure is thought to be part of a big underlying rift, which wrecked buildings and at least one major road in town. The Mayor of Rubavu District, Gilbert Habyarimana has confirmed the temporary closure of the services, saying they have asked people to be vigilant. Apparently, theres a big rift. We have asked people to vacate buildings located along the rift in order to avoid the risk posed by the tremors, Habyarimana said on Tuesday evening. At least five medical services have been relocated to other hospitals in Musanze and Nyabihu districts, and the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), Oreste Tuganeyezu, Director General of Rubavu District Hospital confirmed to The New Times on Tuesday evening. Some surgery patients have been moved to CHUK. For now, only emergency cases can be admitted to the hospital until the current situation changes for better, Tuganeyezu said. He added that Covid-19 patients were sent for home-based care, because none of them were in a severe condition. Patients in surgery and neonatology departments have been moved to Ruhengeri Referral Hospital in Musanze; those in internal medicine department moved to Shyira Hospital in Nyabihu; and maternity services moved to Rugerero Health Center in Rubavu. Rubavu is the epicenter of successive earthquakes that have occurred in many parts of Rwanda, since Saturday evening when Nyiragongo erupted. On Tuesday, the district experienced a 5.3 magnitude quake, the heaviest that has been recorded so far. It originated from Rugerero Sector.
