BBC News
 More
than 1,700 died when Lake Nyos erupted in 1986
An international
team of scientists has begun work on siphoning toxic gas from
a volcanic lake in north-western Cameroon.
More than
1,700 people died after deadly gases spewed from Lake Nyos 15
years ago.
Scientists
from the United States, France and Cameroon are using a series
of giant pipes to release carbon dioxide from deep down in the
waters of the lake.
They say that
pressure from the gas has built up again and a similar tragedy
could happen at any time.
In August
1986, the lake released a cloud of carbon dioxide which hugged
the ground and flowed down surrounding valleys to suffocate thousands
of local villagers and animals.
The rare phenomenon
also occurred at Lake Monoun in the same volcanic zone two years
earlier killing 34 people.
According
to some reports, the lake now contains twice as much carbon dioxide
as was released during the explosion. Earlier attempts to siphon
off the gas had to be abandoned for financial reasons.
Autosiphon
project
The process
termed autosiphon was tested for the first time in 1995 by French
geochemist Michel Halbwachs.
 Tests
suggest the project should work
He told a
news conference that a long pipe was inserted 210 metres (690
feet) into Lake Nyos.
"The
very long pipe spews 90% carbon dioxide and 10% water to a height
of 50 metres," he said.
The Nyos Organ
project, as it is known, involves inserting 12 pipes into the
lake.
"By doing
so, the accumulated carbon dioxide in the depths of the lake will
be gradually released at very high altitude in the atmosphere
and will not be dangerous to people living nearby," he said.
The project
will be monitored by satellite. Cameroon's minister for scientific
and technical research, Henri Hogbe Nlend, said the project would
cost about $2.8m.
He said that
the US Government had already contributed $450,000.
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