MADRID – Between 700 and 800 people in Spain have been evacuated as a result of an ongoing volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, local emergency services said.
The new wave of evacuations comes after about 6,000 people were evacuated in the early days of the 24-day eruption on the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the southwest of the island, the Xinhua news agency reported.
A new lava flow, which began after the north face of the crater collapsed during the weekend, has so far covered 595ha of land on the island, which forms part of the Canary Island archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, an estimated 1,281 buildings have been destroyed by lava and it has also led to the formation of around 60ha of new land. One branch of the new flow on Monday destroyed a cement factory in an industrial estate, leaving 3,500 people from the municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane temporarily confined to their homes due to noxious gasses.
Measurements of sulphur dioxide and a continued chain of small earthquakes have implied that this eruption will last much longer.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will make another visit to La Palma today, his fourth of the kind over the three weeks.
The prime minister will give further details of his government’s emergency aid plan. The plan has already designated €206 million (RM989 million) in aid to help evacuees and the island’s economy, which is mainly based on tourism and banana planting. – Bernama, October 13, 2021
