La Palma volcano roars back to life as lava nears the sea

LA PALMA,SPAIN,SEPT27(REUTERS) -

The volcano on Spain’s La Palma island began ejecting ash and smoke again on Monday after a brief lull, while hundreds of people in coastal villages were locked down in anticipation of the lava reaching the sea and releasing toxic gas.

A column of white smoke rose from the Cumbre Vieja volcano after several hours of calm around 11 a.m. local time (1000 GMT), according to Reuters witnesses. Researchers confirmed it began spewing out lava at the same time.

On Monday, two tongues of the superheated black lava were rounding a hill to the west of the small town of Todoque, less than a kilometre from the Atlantic, but authorities said they could not be sure when it might reach the sea.