Original title: Volcano eruption intensifies airport closure on Spanish island
The eruption of the old Cumbre volcano on the island of La Palma in Spain intensified, and the island’s airport was closed on the 25th. Many people switched to ferry due to flight cancellations, and there were long queues at the ferry terminal.
Old Cumbre erupted again on the 19th of this month after 50 years. According to Reuters, the eruption entered a new stage on the 25th, with a new vent on the west side of the main volcano. On the same day, residents of three towns were evacuated urgently. So far, nearly 6,000 people have been evacuated from over 83,000 people on La Palma Island.
The Spanish Airports and Aviation Authority said: “La Palma Airport is unable to operate due to the accumulation of volcanic ash, and the clean-up work has begun…”
Carlos García, 47, plans to travel from La Palma to Barcelona, but due to the airport closure and flight cancellations, he had to go to the terminal. He was going to take the ferry to Tenerife first and then transfer to Barcelona by plane.
Agence France-Presse quoted news from the European Union’s “Copernicus” Earth Monitoring Program and reported that lava from the volcano has destroyed 420 buildings, covering more than 190 hectares of land.
There are no reports of casualties caused by the volcanic eruption, but Angel Victor Torres, the head of the Canary Islands, said that the economic loss caused by the volcanic eruption exceeded 400 million euros (about 3 billion yuan).
La Palma is a holiday resort located in the northwestern part of the Canary Islands in Spain, covering an area of 708 square kilometers. There have been 7 volcanic eruptions on the island since records, the last one occurred in 1971. (Ou Sa)[Xinhua News Agency Wei Feature]
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