Aftermath of an eruption in a dry stream that caused a rift in Ikwoto. (-)

The governor of Eastern Equatoria State Louis Lobong Lojore has called on the national government to investigate a mysterious underground water eruption that destroyed farms and forests in Katire Payam of Ikwoto County.

The underground water eruption is said to have violently gushed water to the surface of a stream – leading to a strong current that wiped out nearby farms, trees, and grasses in Katire Payam, creating a rift in the area.

The occurrence is similar to a geyser, a rare hydrological phenomenon characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam.

Governor Lobong said the outburst of water pressure threw trees, and grasses into the Kineti River, killing aquatic animals, especially the fish.

“I went there and I saw by myself, I don’t know what has happened, but you can see that something erupted like a force from the ground through the water in a small spring, and it went and opened widely from ahead,” Lobong said.

“It destroyed trees and grasses, that area is very dense but it cleared all the grasses and the trees and swept and dumped into a river called Kineti when it reached there it killed so many fish.”

Although he cannot figure out what caused the disaster, Lobong attributes the underground eruption to heavy downpour on the night of Tuesday last week.

He urged for the national government to deploy technicians from the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Environment and meteorologists to assess the nature of the eruption before an intervention could be decided.

“We have called the national government; the technicians particularly the Ministry of Petroleum to bring ideologists and also maybe the Ministry of Environment so that they come and tell us what is it.”

Elders in the area reportedly say a similar incident had been experienced in 1978.

The governor revealed that the state government has advised the communities around the area to keep settlements away from the rivers due to the foreseeable amount of rainfall expected this month.

The visit by the governor comes a week after an eyewitness in Ikwoto County of Eastern Equatoria State reported the mass death of fish from the Kineti River in an unexplained event as the residents crowded river banks to collect the dead fish.

Taban Patrick, a journalist with the African In-land Church-sponsored Radio Grace based in Torit, said the situation was noted after a nearby stream overflew its bank into the main river.

According to Taban, villagers in Imilai located a kilometer from Kineti River’s main source in Katire were seen collecting the dead fish but were cautioned against eating them.