PHOTO: New erupting in Philippine
Tens of thousands more people have fled an erupting volcano in the Philippines, relief workers said Wednesday, as foreign tourists arrived to watch the flaming lava and giant clouds spurting from its crater.
More than 70,000 residents are now crammed in schools and other buildings, a figure that has nearly doubled over the past three days, officials said, two weeks after Mayon volcano began showing signs of activity.
Volcanologists on Monday warned of a hazardous eruption within days and a no-go zone was extended from six kilometers (3.7 miles) of the crater to nine kilometers, forcing even those beyond it to flee homes being pounded by a rain of ash.
“They were not in the danger zone but they are scared,” Cedric Daep, the head of the civil defense office of Albay province told AFP, adding about 360,000 people, or a third of the province’s one million residents have been breathing in volcanic ash.
Source: Al Arabiya
