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Mount Nyiragongo: The danger at the heart of Goma's volcano

Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano 10km from Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spewed lava over the weekend of 22-23 May, killing 32 people and leaving thousands homeless. The eruption was not entirely unexpected as the volcano’s lava lake inside the crater had been building up for years. Since the initial eruption, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from Goma over fears of more volcanic activity.

Dario Tedesco, a volcanologist at the Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania, has studied the volcano's activity. He describes what has been observed since Saturday's eruption and whether more activity is likely.

Photo: Residents walk near destroyed homes with the smouldering lava deposited by the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on 22 May, 2021 Credit: Reuters

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2 minutes