Goma residents desperate and hungry

Lava piled like "giant elephant dung"

GOMA, Congo (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people are returning to their homes in Goma despite the continuing threat from the Mount Nyiragongo volcano. CNN's Catherine Bond describes the devastation caused by the volcano, and its impact on the town's residents:

It rises in places to heights of one, four and six feet. The lava, like giant elephant dung, has blackened the town.

Although the surface has cooled the lava is still moving underneath, red hot, and is making its way to Lake Kivu. People cross the lava even though it is still hot.

Ash is in the air but there is no smell because the main component in the lava, carbon dioxide, is odourless.

Tremors shake the earth, with some of them being quite strong, mainly in the middle of the night. Some are terrible, our hotel shook like jelly.

Panic exists among some parents who are still looking for children and other relatives who became separated in the chaotic exit last week. Some parents had to leave children who had gone on errands, for example, when their homes began collapsing under the weight of the lava.

VIDEO CNN's Catherine Bond reports that although lava still flows from Congo's Mount Nyiragongoan volcano, many people risk returning to their homes rather than becoming refugees (January 20) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION Interactive: Anatomy of a volcano  • Gallery: Residents of Goma flee volcano  • Gallery: Residents return despite dangers  • Map: Goma lies in area prone to volcanic activity

Apprehension is also a factor among the returnees, but the overriding feeling is one of resignation -- just one more thing to have happened to them after years of conflict and poverty.

All of the residents say they are hungry, which I can believe. Many left their homes last Thursday without time to gather any food, and they had little chance to buy food when they made their way to Rwanda, or their currency was not accepted.

Many people here live a hand-to-mouth existence so if they do not get the chance to work for four days they lose the chance to earn.

Quite a bit of looting broke out among residents who had stayed on Saturday, with a few being shot dead by soldiers who are beginning to retake the area.

The politicians are drawing up a crisis committee to tackle the situation, but I do not see any of them on the streets which is creating a vacuum. Relief workers are still trying to get to the area, having set up refugee centres in Rwanda only for the Goma residents to refuse to stay in them.

People are so hungry there has been some resentment that journalists have reached Goma, but not the aid agencies.

Some residents tried to siphon fuel from a storage hut but are feared dead after the hot lava surrounding the hut ignited the fuel fumes.

Some children and women were injured in the blast that sent black smoke across the town.