New fears of African volcano

People living near one of Africa's most active volcanoes, Mount Cameroon, have been warned to stand by for evacuation because of an increasing rate of lava flow.

The volcano began erupting again on Sunday.

Scientists monitoring activity say the lava is now flowing at about twenty-five metres an hour and at one point is only five kilometres from a village Bokwango on the outskirts of the South-West Province capital, Buea.

As well as the lava, the scientists are concerned about the levels of volcanic gases, which are potentially lethal.

Nearly two-thousand people were killed by the gas in 1986 during an eruption at Lake Nyos, which is on the same seismic fault as Mount Cameroon.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service