La Palma Lava To Hit Sea As Ash Closes Airport

The volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of La Palma continues to cause widespread distruption as further vents have opened up exposing the residents to new dangers.

Over the weekend the island´s airport was closed due to an ash cloud that dropped tons of volcanic ash over the area. The airports operator Aena said the falling ash had caused it to become “inoperative.”

So far some 7,000 residents have need to abandon their homes as the lava flow engulfed houses and villages.

The lava has now passed the the village Todoque which had to be evacuated last week and is now just 1.5 km from the sea.

The president of La Palma’s island council, Mariano Hernández Zapata, told a press conference, yesterday Sunday 26th September, that the lava flow was moving at an average of 100 meters per hour due to it coming from “a deeper part of the volcano, some 10 kilometers, which makes its fluidity greater.”

Should the lava flow continue at its present rate it is expected to cross La Palma´s main coastal road and hit the sea later today.

The Canary Islands Volcanology Institute have warned that should that happen there is a danger that toxic gases could be released into the atmposphere causing more distruption.

The last time the volcano erupted in 1971 they continued for over a month.

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