Terror of tourists as they f lee Mount Etna
SCREAMING tourists dodged burning boulders and boiling steam as they fled an eruption on Mount Etna yesterday.
A BBC news crew was caught up in the ‘huge explosion’ on the volcano in Sicily, in which ten people suffered burns, cuts and bruises and six needed hospital treatment.
The corporation’s 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 her crew showed vast plumes of ash and rocks soaring 200m into the sky and then raining down on scores of visitors as they scrambled down the mountain.
The footage showed a man with a bad cut to his head. Ms Morelle said a guide had dislocated a shoulder, while a 78-year-old woman had been very close to the explosion but got away unharmed.
She later posted a picture of her camerawoman’s jacket with a ‘massive’ burn hole on the back where it had been struck by flying fiery rock. She tweeted: ‘Caught up in incident at Mount Etna – 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. Running down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam – not an experience I ever, ever want to repeat.’