Eyewitness: Goma petrol blast

Fuel is believed to have spilled onto the lava

Looters siphoning off fuel at a petrol station in the centre of the devastated town of Goma were caught by an explosion which killed about 50 people.

"A petrol station went up in a great ball of orange flame. The sky is still thick with black smoke and at the scene of the explosion the site is absolutely horrifying," according to the BBC's correspondent Helen Vesperini.

People were screaming and running all over the place

Reuters photographer George Mulala

Judith Melby from the charity Christian Aid said: "I heard three loud, sharp explosions go off in short succession and then there was a great pall of smoke".

"There were about 50 to 60 people inside," said one witness, Kahokolo Kambale. "Nobody could have escaped."

Mr Kambale said looters had been pouring petrol from large drums into smaller containers and some liquid appeared to have trickled onto hot lava, causing the explosion.

'All dead'

"People were screaming and running all over the place," Reuters photographer George Mulala said. "It's obvious that people must have been killed. I don't know how many."

People run across the lava barefoot

Mr Mulala said he saw looters carrying fuel barrels away from the garage on their heads and backs when the explosion occurred.

"They are all dead, all of them," said a member of the rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy that controls the region.

According to witnesses, further explosions could be seen several hours later, blasting flames and petrol drums 50 metres (160 feet) into the air.

Thousands of people have been returning to the devastated town despite the dangers of continuing earth tremors and hot lava covering the streets .

"The people here are so poor that despite heat that eats into your feet through the soles of boots, they're running in barefoot to try and salvage what they can from the flames," our correspondent says.

"One man came out with his hair singed orange down the middle rolling an empty petrol drum and another staggered back clutching two sheets of corrugated iron," she added.

Even the continuing earth tremors do no deter people from returning.

"Yes, we have felt the earthquakes but it doesn't mean anything. Every day there are earthquakes, yesterday we had maybe a hundred times but as you can see they are now diminishing," said Goma resident Luc Kabangu.