Lava from La Palma volcano ignites fire at cement plant, pushing 2,500 people into solitary confinement
The main danger came from the gas and smoke belching from the fire in an industrial park on the lava path, the official, Miguel Angel Morcuende, said during a press briefing.
“The committee preferred to order the lockdown for people’s safety,” said Morcuende, who is the technical director of the Canary Islands government’s volcanic crisis committee.
He told reporters that 2,500 to 3,000 residents close to the fire were directly affected by the lockdown.
The La Palma volcano erupted on September 19 and it hasn’t stopped yet. On its 23rd consecutive day of activity, the Canary Islands Volcanology Institute released video of a new eruption on Monday, showing a thick dark plume rising from the crater.
The lava had destroyed 591 hectares (or 1,460 acres) of farmland on Monday – an increase of just over 10% from the day before – with around half of the total in lost banana plantations and the rest in vineyards and crumbling avocados. farms, Morcuende said.
The Institute of Volcanology tweeted that the lava destroyed nearly 1,200 buildings on the island of La Palma, which has a population of about 80,000. It is one of the smallest islands of the Spanish Canary archipelago in the Atlantic.
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