Nearly 10,000 residents have fled their homes near an erupting volcano in the central Philippines, the national disaster agency said on Tuesday, amid warnings of a “hazardous eruption” in the coming weeks.
Kanlaon volcano in Negros Occidental province, about 530km south of Manila, erupted on Monday afternoon, spewing ash and gas up to 4,000 metres above the vent, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Local authorities suspended school classes and work in parts of Negros Occidental and nearby Antique province, as thick ash fell on the ground and the air smelt strongly of sulphur. Phivolcs chief Teresito Bacolcol said the alert warning at Kanlaon had been raised to level 3 indicating the “possibility of a hazardous eruption in the following weeks.” “We urge residents not to enter the six-kilometre danger zone,” he said.
Bacolcol noted that the eruption involved magma as well as pyroclastic density currents. (DPA)
