Tourists flee Etna
Lucky escape from lava and burning boulders
SCREAMING tourists dodged burning boulders and boiling steam as they fled an eruption on Mount Etna yesterday.
A BBC news crew were caught up in the “huge explosion” on the volcano in Sicily, in which 10 people suffered burns, cuts and bruises and six needed hospital treatment.
Science correspondent, Rebecca Morelle, said she and her team were lucky to survive the blast, which one volcanologist with them described as the “most dangerous” in his 30-year career.
Dramatic footage shot by Morelle’s crew showed plumes of ash and rocks soaring 200m into the sky, then raining down on scores of visitors as they scrambled down the mountain.
The footage showed a man with a cut to his head. Morelle said a guide had dislocated a shoulder, while a 78-year-old woman had been very close to the explosion but managed to get away.
She tweeted: “BBC crew & tourists caught up in huge explosion – caused injuries and evacuation from scene.
“Many injured – some head injuries, burns, cuts and bruises. Incident could have been worse – explosions like this have killed – but seems minor injuries for now.
“Very shaken though – it was extremely scary. Running down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam – not an experience I ever, ever want to repeat. Reminder of how dangerous and unpredictable volcanoes can be – everyone had a very lucky escape.”
The BBC journalists were visiting Mount Etna, at 3294m Europe’s tallest active volcano, with a group of scientists after it began erupting three weeks ago for the first time in a year.
In 1669, an earthquake originating beneath Etna killed 1500 people. In 1987, two tourists were killed by a sudden explosion near the summit. The last major eruption was in 1992.