Gulf News

Canaries volcano forces airport closure

Obligatory evacuation orders issued for several districts of La Palma island

- — AFP

Clouds of thick black ash from volcanic eruptions in Spain’s Canaries archipelag­o forced the closure of the airport on La Palma island yesterday, authoritie­s said.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano came to life a week ago and has intermitte­ntly spewed out lava and ash leading to the cancellati­on of all seven flights on Friday. “The airport is closed because

of the accumulati­on of ash,” said state-owned airport operator Aena. “Clean-up operations have begun but the situation can change at any moment,” it added.

More evacuation­s were also ordered on Friday at the town of El Paso as large explosions and new openings were reported at the volcano.

“Given the increased risk for the population due to the current eruptive episode”, the regional government said, an obligatory evacuation order was issued for several districts.

That pushed the number of people forced to leave their homes so far to more than 6,200, including 400 tourists.

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Earth Observatio­n Programme, lava has so far destroyed 420 buildings and covered more than 190 hectares (470 acres) of land.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced La Palma would be declared “a zone affected by a catastroph­e” which opens financial aid to residents.

 ?? AP ?? Two people are framed against the lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canaries island of La Palma yesterday.
AP Two people are framed against the lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canaries island of La Palma yesterday.

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