CNN
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Italian authorities say a massive eruption on Mount Etna forced tourists to flee the volcano on Monday after “several kilometres” of hot gas, ash and rocks were hit by a massive wave in the air on Monday.
Video posted on social media shows a long line of people rushing downhill from the explosion, but the owner of one tour company told CNN that there were 40 people when the Sicily erupted.
Giuseppe Panfallo, a guide with Go Etna, filmed his tour group leaning in the distance with a huge cloud of ashes.
“We were mostly grazing, and we were watching this cloud here. We’re two steps ahead and thankful that we have a responsible guide with us,” he says in a video he shared with CNN.
“It arrives at once, immeasurable smoke, immeasurable, immeasurable roar.”
The Sicily Civil Protection Agency added that around 12 tour operators working in Etna at any time have spoken to CNN and are contacting everything to make sure everyone is explained.
Volcanoes on Italian islands are popular tourist destinations with 1.5 million visitors a year, many of which trek mostly to the summit.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but there has not been an eruption of this size since 2014, according to the National Geophysics and Volcanic Observatory.
These eruptions often stop as soon as they begin, the station added, but the explosions are still increasing in intensity, with the mountains spitting very little lava and fire.
The eruption, which began overnight, caused an explosion that was heard far away as Taormina and Catania, about 50 and 40 kilometers (31 and 25 miles) away, respectively, according to several witnesses who posted footage on social media.
The observatory said the preliminary observations indicate a “partial collapse” of the north flank of the southeastern crater of the volcano, which produced spectacular lava flows during recent eruptions in the past few months.
While ashes are not expected to fall in Catania, a city at the foot of the volcano, authorities are ready to warn people to hide when the wind changes, city mayor Enrico Tarantino told CNN.
Airports near Catania and Palermo are also open. Because the wind is not blowing ashes in that direction at the moment. The Sicilian Civil Protection Agency has instructed all flight trips to avoid the region, and according to flytrader data, several flights from Catania have been directed to Palermo.
Authorities are trying to close many roads heading towards the volcano and keep people trying to get closer to the eruption out of the way of first responders and emergency vehicles, Tarantino added.
At 1pm local time (7am ET), the volcano began spitting hot lava.
The station defined volcanic activity as a detrital eruption, “having a significant increase in volcanic tremors and the formation of eruption columns containing hot gases, lava grains, volcanic ash, and rock fragments of different sizes that rapidly descended down the volcanic slopes.
