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DRC: Eruptions continue on mounts Nyamuragira, Nyiragongo

NAIROBI, 27 July (IRIN) - Volcanic eruptions and other activity continued Saturday on mounts Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but still posed no immediate danger to the nearby city of Goma, Kalendi Sadaka Kavotha, director of the Goma Volcano Observatory, told IRIN.

Speaking just after an aerial survey over the volcanoes, he said the lava formation within Nyamuragira was flowing north and south but that there were no more eruptions within its crater. "However, there are eruptions within Nyiragongo, but they pose no danger," he said.

Lava from Thursday's eruption of Nyamuragira is expected to cause "considerable damage" to the Virunga National Park, nearby, which is devoid of a human population. A team of volcanologists from the 11-member observatory - a branch of the Department of Geophysics/Lwiro, Bukavu - is due fly to Nyiragongo on Sunday to monitor the mountain that last erupted on 17 January, spewing lava over Goma and forcing thousands of people to flee.

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