Evacuations under way as Philippine volcano erupts

MANILA - A volcano erupted in the central Philippines on Dec 9, sending a huge ash column into the sky as the government called for the evacuation of surrounding villages.

Rising more than 2,400m above sea level on the central island of Negros, Kanlaon, is one of 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.

“An explosive eruption occurred at the summit vent of Kanlaon Volcano at 3.03pm today,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

“All local government units are advised to evacuate the 6km radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants,” it added.

“Evacuations are ongoing” in four upland villages of La Castellana town, on the volcano’s south-west slope, municipal police officer Staff Sergeant Ronel Arevalo told AFP, adding he did not have the total number of residents to be evacuated.

La Castellana resident Dianne Paula Abendan, 24, used her mobile phone to take a video clip of a giant cauliflower-shaped grey mass of smoke billowing above the crater.

“These past few days, we’ve seen black smoke coming out of (the) volcano. We were expecting that it would erupt anytime this week,” she told AFP by phone.

Ms Abendan said people rushed home to await evacuation orders, but added that the volcanic activity appeared to ease slightly about an hour later.

The seismology office said the plume rose to 3,000m above the vent, with red-hot ashes and other materials also falling on its south-eastern slope.

The activity means “magmatic eruption has begun that may progress to further explosive eruptions,” it added.

In September, hundreds of nearby residents had been evacuated

after the volcano spurted thousands of tonnes of harmful gases in a single day.

The seismology office said Kanlaon has erupted more than 40 times since 1866.

In 1996 three hikers were killed due to ash ejection from the volcano. AFP