Goma

Goma is a large city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located in the Western Rift of the Great Rift Valley, Goma neighbors Nyiragongo Volcano directly to its north, and hugs the coast of Lake Kivu to its south.

Goma was one of the locations Rwandese fled to during the genocide of 1994. Shortly after the arrival of nearly one million refugees, a deadly cholera outbreak claimed thousands of lives. In 1997 and 1998, government forces from Rwanda stormed the camps at Goma searching for Hutu genocidaires, killing thousands more.

In 2002, Nyiragongo erupted, sending a stream of lava through the center of the city. The lava destroyed some the city's buildings and paved over part of the airport's runway.