‘My whole life in a van’: Islanders flee Spanish volcano

A wall of lava up to 40 feet high bore down on a Spanish village Wednesday as islanders scrambled to save what they could before the molten rock swallowed up their homes following a volcanic eruption.

The lava still spewing from Sunday’s eruption in the Canary Islands off northwest Africa advanced slowly down hillsides to the coast, where Todoque was the last village between the molten rock and the Atlantic Ocean.

The lava could take several days to cover the remaining 1.25 miles to the sea, experts said, but authorities and locals were taking no chances amid the unpredictable seismic activity.

Residents hoping to save some belongings queued up so they could be escorted into the village. The lava was advancing in the distance at around 400 feet an hour, with smoke coming from its leading edge as it destroyed everything it touched.

Javier Lopez said his house for the past three decades appeared to be in the lava’s path. He and his relatives had been staying at a friend’s house with the few documents, photos and basic belongings

they had been able to take when they were evacuated on Monday.

“I’ve put my whole life in a van,” Lopez said as he waited for his turn to try to recover a vehicle he had left behind and other valuables.

“This is probably going to be the last time I see my home,” he said. “Or, in the best-case scenario, the house will remain isolated by the lava and inaccessible for who knows how long.”

Firefighting crews trying to save as many houses as possible from being entombed by lava worked nonstop overnight to open a trench to divert the lava flow.

Melisa Rodriguez, another Todoque resident, was trying to stay positive and calm.

“It’s hard to think straight about what you want to save, but we are only allowed in for one hour and you don’t want to take longer because that would be taking time away from others,” she said.

As the lava headed toward the island’s more densely populated coast, 1,000 people were evacuated late Tuesday from Todoque, bringing the total number of evacuated on the island of La Palma to over 6,800.

Authorities say more dangers lie ahead for residents, including more earthquakes.

EMILIO MORENATTI/ASSOCIATED PRESS Residents remove their belongings from their houses Wednesday as lava from a volcano eruption flows, forcing them to evacuate their village on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canaries.