Tourists on the Italian island of Sicily were forced to flee from the slopes of Mount Etna, one of Europe’s largest and most active volcanoes, after an eruption sent clouds of gas, rock and ash billowing into the sky.
There were no reports of injuries or deaths, though videos circulating on social media showed hikers scrambling to descend the mountain as plumes rose overhead on Monday.
More than 20 per cent of the flights arriving at the nearby Catania Airport were delayed, according to FlightAware, a company that tracks flight information. Authorities said that there was no risk to the local population.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said in a statement that the explosions were confined to the summit area, which was closed to tourists, and were of “strong intensity.” The institute has since announced on its Facebook account that the day’s volcanic activity has ended.
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As a popular tourist destination, Sicily welcomes many millions of travellers annually, with more than 1 million visiting Mount Etna alone. In recent years, authorities have struggled to control imprudent visitors who failed to appreciate the risks of getting a close look at the island’s most prominent landmark. Mount Etna, a stratovolcano, or a conical volcano with relatively steep sides, shows almost continuous activity from its main craters and relatively frequent lava flows from craters and fissures along its sides. A previous major eruption had occurred in February.
Hannah and Charlie Camper, a couple from England, were vacationing at Villa Carlino House, which sits about 10 miles east of the volcano’s central crater, when volcanic plumes began billowing near the summit.
The couple was aware of previous eruptions but thought they would be “completely fine,” since “it’s active all the time,” Hannah Camper said in a WhatsApp message. Camper said they weren’t sure what to do if the activity worsened. They did not receive any emergency messages on their phones. After filming a video, they ran inside and began searching the internet for safety warnings.
“We were waiting to hear something, but nothing came through even though the smoke was getting bigger and coming toward us,” she said. “At one point we could see the lava coming down the volcano.”
Sicily, the setting for the second season of the hit series ‘The White Lotus’, has grown increasingly popular among tourists in recent years, despite being plagued by heat, wildfires and water shortages. - The New York Times
