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19 July 2011 Last updated at 00:07 ET Help A scientist tries to get a lava sample from Mount Nyiragongo in Africa's Great Rift Valley, but gets too close to the boiling lake. Dr Dario Tedesco, from the University of Naples, one of the world's leading authorities on the volcano, tries to alert the scientist whose life is at risk. Mount Nyiragongo is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Scientists want to take lava samples from volcanoes because it can give vital clues about what is happening deep inside the planet.

Stromboli OnLine is one of my favorite sites, with suberb volcano photography. They recently posted a new "Nyiragongo Expedition" feature. Below are three pictures sampled from the site. Go there for more. Nyiragongo at night from Goma View from the crater rim at twilight Active Nyiragongo lava lake

Fears Rise as Congo Volcano Spews Big Dust Cloud Sat Jul 27,11:18 AM ET By Themistocle Hakizimana GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - A Congolese city half razed by a volcano just six months ago was threatened again on Saturday as a nearby rumbling mountain spewed a massive wall of dust and ash for a second straight day. Experts said they were worried by a towering three-km (two-mile) plume of dust and ash thrown up by Nyiragongo, a dark cone-shaped mountain looming over Goma, home to 500,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of them displaced by war, on the...

UN finally agrees to feed Goma's starving people James Astill in Goma Wednesday January 23, 2002 The Guardian The United Nations finally announced plans to feed the destitute people of Goma yesterday, almost a week after a river of molten lava swept through the town from the erupting Mount Nyiragongo. Declaring the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern capital safe - three days after virtually all its 350,000 residents returned - UN officials said food would be handed out today. But the continuing danger of earthquakes was highlighted when the World Food Programme's headquarters at Gisenyi, a mile from Goma, was ...

Monday January 21 4:05 AM ET 50 Killed in Congo Gas Station Blast Photos AP Photo Slideshows AP Photo Volcano Erupts in Congo Audio/Video Lava Flows From Volcano in Congo (AP)   By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer GOMA, Congo (AP) - Lava flows from a volcanic eruption ignited a gas station, killing about 50 people who were trying to siphon fuel from the elevated tanks, witnesses said. A massive fireball erupted at 8:30 a.m., leaving a huge black cloud over Goma more than 11/2 hours later. The Congolese were at the station trying to steal gas and diesel fuel ...

NYIRAGONGO Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.52°S, 29.25°E; summit elev. 3,469 m; All times are local (= UTC + 2 hours) 18 January Update The following information is based on preliminary reports from various government and news agencies that were received during the ongoing crisis. An eruption began at Nyiragongo on 17 January and, according to news reports, as of 18 January lava flows had destroyed parts of 14 villages and 45 people had been killed. Some reports state that the eruption began at 0500 local time. Other reports state that probably around mid-day, fissures N of the Goma Airport ...