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Spain's La Palma volcano eruption causes airport closure
Updated 11:25, 26-Sep-2021
CGTN

Volcanic explosions spewed red hot lava high into the air on La Palma on Saturday as a new emission vent opened, forcing the small Spanish island to close its airport and causing long queues for boats off the island.

A police officer orders journalists to leave the area during a media tour near the volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, September 22, 2021. /CFP

A police officer orders journalists to leave the area during a media tour near the volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canaries, Spain, September 22, 2021. /CFP

The Cumbre Vieja volcano, which began erupting last Sunday, is entering a new explosive phase. The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute, Involcan, said the new emission vent that had opened was to the west of the principle vent.

Mount Cumbre Vieja continues to erupt in El Paso, spewing out columns of smoke, ash and lava on the Canary Island of La Palma on September 22, 2021./CFP

Mount Cumbre Vieja continues to erupt in El Paso, spewing out columns of smoke, ash and lava on the Canary Island of La Palma on September 22, 2021./CFP

The National Geographical and Mining Institute said its drones had shown the volcano's cone had broken.

"It is not unusual in this type of eruption that the cone of the volcano fractures. A crater is formed that does not support its own weight and ... the cone breaks," Miguel Angel Morcuende, director of volcano response committee Pevolca, told a news conference on Saturday. "This partial rupture happened overnight."

Two rural agents enter a house to help residents to collect their belongings from their home before evacuation. /CFP

Two rural agents enter a house to help residents to collect their belongings from their home before evacuation. /CFP

The volcano has spewed out thousands of tonnes of lava, destroyed hundreds of houses and forced the evacuation of nearly 6,000 people since it began erupting last Sunday. 

La Palma, with a population of over 83,000, is one of an archipelago making up the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.

Spanish airport operator Aena said the island's airport had closed.

Workers swept volcanic ash off the runway, electronic boards showed cancelled flights and the departures hall was quiet as some people arriving at the airport discovered they would not be able to fly out.

Operators clean ash from a runway of the La Palma Airport on September 25, 2021 in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. /CFP

Operators clean ash from a runway of the La Palma Airport on September 25, 2021 in La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain. /CFP

There were long queues at La Palma's main port as people, with some having flights cancelled, tried to get ferries off the island.

People evacuated from three more towns on Friday will not be able to return to their homes to retrieve their belongings because of the "evolution of the volcanic emergency," local authorities said.

"Volcanic surveillance measurements carried out since the beginning of the eruption recorded the highest-energy activity so far during Friday afternoon," emergency services said.

At the quiet port of Tazacorte, fishermen described the devastating effect the eruption has had on their livelihoods.

"We haven't been out fishing in a week, the area is closed," said Jose Nicolas San Luis Perez, 49, who lost his house in the eruption.

"About half the people I know have lost their homes," he told Reuters. "I run into friends on the street and we start crying."

The Cumbre Vieja volcano spews a huge column of smoke and pyroclastic materials, as seen from Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma in September 25, 2021. /CFP

The Cumbre Vieja volcano spews a huge column of smoke and pyroclastic materials, as seen from Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma in September 25, 2021. /CFP

On Friday, authorities evacuated the towns of Tajuya, Tacande de Abajo and the part of Tacande de Arriba that had not already been evacuated after the new vent opened up in the flank of the volcano. 

No fatalities or serious injuries have been reported in the volcano's eruption, but about 15 percent of the island's economically crucial banana crop could be at risk, jeopardizing thousands of jobs. 

(Cover image via CFP)

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Source(s): Reuters

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