Crisis committee order urgent action on lake

Cameroon's National Crisis Committee has recommended extracting large deposits of carbon dioxide from Lake Nyos to prevent a repetition of an explosion in 1986 that killed some 2,000 people, AFP reported on Saturday. The decision was made following a visit to Nyos last week by experts from the Institute of Geological and Mineral Research who said several large cracks had formed beside the lake, AFP said. Area residents have also reported dead fish floating in the lake and recent gas explosions. The committee is led by the secretary-general to the presidency, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, and includes other government officials.