Close eye kept on Philippine volcano

Glowing-red lava spurted in a fountain and flowed down the Philippines’ most active volcano on Tuesday in a stunning display of its fury that has sent more than 34,000 villagers fleeing to safety and prompted police to set up checkpoints to stop tourists from getting too close.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the lava flowed as much as two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the often cloud-shrouded crater of Mount Mayon, while ash fell on several villages in northeastern Albay province.

Officials strongly advised people not to venture into a danger zone about six to seven kilometres (3.7 to 4.3 miles) around Mayon, including residents who want to check their homes, farms and animals, and tourists seeking a closer view.

“They say it’s beauty juxtaposed with danger,” Office of Civil Defence regional director Claudio Yucot said.

At least 34,038 people have been displaced by Mayon’s eruption since the weekend from two cities and six towns, many of whom took shelter in schools turned into evacuation centres, Jukes Nunez, an Albay provincial disaster response officer, said by telephone. Others took refuge in the homes of relatives.

Albay officials declared a state of calamity in the province of more than a million people to allow more rapid disbursement of disaster funds, Nunez said.