Congo volcano: Your thoughts

The lava ran through the heart of the city

The Mount Nyiragongo volcano in Congo has burst into life, sending a river of molten rock into the city of Goma, killing more than 40 people.

The eruption turned the city of more than 500,000 into a virtual ghost town, with molten rock reducing roads and buildings to fiery ash.

Thousands of displaced people have now started returning home, defying warnings from the military and from the U.N.

E-mail us with your thoughts and experiences.

Have your say

It's really a breath-taking natural disaster that has no boundaries for a third world country like DRC. I am praying that God help the people of Goma in the DRC in this moment of pain. Only God sometimes may hold the answer to such events of great pain and destruction. -- Austin Manengu, Zambia.

I live here in USA. I was born, grow up and went to school in Goma city that was destroy by the volcano Nyiragongo. It is painful for me to see family became refugees in Rwanda. If people from Goma refuse to go in refugee camps, the reason is that they have experienies of Hutu refugee camps devastated by Rwandese saldats in 1998, without any judgement from international community -- Paluku Mulisya, U.S.

This is a sad thing to see happen to the people of a country that already has enough problems. I really can't understand why such a large town sits in the path of a volcano that erupts so frequntly. Haven't these countries learned from past experiences of their own and other countries that have had disasters from volcanic eruptions? I guess this is just something that happens when you have a government that really does not care about their people -- Tim Grooms, U.S.

Sad ... very sad ... wish and pray the international community spares a moment to open its eyes to suffering in Africa. We need to do lots more, rather than speeches and seminars, making promises and promises with nothing materializing. Leaders of Africa also need to rise to the occassion, forgeting differences and improving situation from grass root levels -- Toms Verghese, India.

Why have thousands of displaced people now started returning home? All Congolese people know that Rwanda is not an hospitable country. They prefer dying in their home Congo in Goma than suffering threat from people of Rwanda -- Alex , U.S.

I would like to see more in-depth coverage on the human catastrophy which is unfolding in Goma and Gisenyi. The fact that perhaps 500,000 souls have had their lives seriously altered rates only a one-minute coverage on the nightly news. It is only natures version of terrorism, but I feel that others may also want to learn more of the tragedy. I suppose that the number of hits on your web page should tell you the percentage of hits for the volcano versus the war. Perhaps you could divide the time devoted in a like manner -- Sally Gustafson, U.S.