Provincial authorities in Nord-Kivu have prohibited public release of the report that recommends the city be moved to avoid the fallout of another volcanic eruption, possibly within two years.

"The risk of a new eruption of Nyiragongo is clear, with a 13 percent chance that the city would survive," the report states.

In January 2002, 400,000 people were evacuated when a lava flow from the volcano destroyed almost 80 percent of the buildings in the city near the Rwandan border. More than 40 people were reportedly killed and the airport was demolished.

"It is absurd and surprising to suppress such information that, given in time, can help the population take useful steps," a specialist said.

The 3,465-metre (11,365 foot) volcano has a two-kilometre wide crater with an active lava lake in the centre. With nearby Nyamuragira, it is responsible for about 40 percent of all volcanic activity in the continent.

Nyiragongo's lava flows are extremely fluid, travelling at speeds up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour. An eruption in 1977 reportedly killed more than 70 people.

bbos/jac/gk