No, there was no volcanic eruption on Mt Longonot - iVerify Kenya

No, there was no volcanic eruption on Mt Longonot

Kenyans mistook the fire incident for an eruption because it was visible around the crater, but the fire outbreak occurred on the southern side of Mt. Longonot National Park, contrary to earlier reports.

On October 28, 2022, the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) refuted the reports.

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Verified Feb, 01 2023

Claim

Mt Longonot currently having a volcanic eruption.

Rating Justification

The iVerify Network of Fact-Checking Desks has fact-checked this content and established that it is False.

To arrive to this conclusion, the iVerify Network of Fact-Checking Desks has conducted the following process. In a statement seen by the iVerify Network of Fact-Checking Desks and issued by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on October 28, 2022, following reports of the alleged volcanic eruption at Mt. Longonot, it was noted that, contrary to earlier reports, there was a fire outbreak on October 27, on the southern side of Mt. Longonot National Park. The KWS stated that there was no volcanic eruption of the mountain, as some reports on social media platforms had previously indicated.

On Friday, KWS tweeted a video of an aerial view of the crater, in which it is clear that the crater has not erupted. According to KWS, the fire was put out after an emergency response team dispatched to the area managed to contain and eventually extinguish the inferno. The fire is said to have destroyed approximately 40 hectares of bushland.

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