‘My whole life in a van’: Islanders flee Spanish volcano

By ARITZ PARRA

TODOQUE, Canary Islands (AP) — A partition of lava up to 12 meters (40 feet) precocious bore down connected a Spanish colony Wednesday arsenic islanders scrambled to prevention what they could earlier the molten stone swallowed up their homes pursuing a volcanic eruption.

The lava inactive spewing from Sunday’s eruption successful the Canary Islands disconnected northwest Africa precocious dilatory down hillsides to the coast, wherever Todoque was the past colony betwixt the molten stone and the Atlantic Ocean.

The lava could instrumentality respective days to screen the remaining 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) to the sea, experts said, but authorities and locals were taking nary chances amid the unpredictable seismic activity.

Residents hoping to prevention immoderate belongings queued up truthful they could beryllium escorted into the village. The lava was advancing successful the region astatine astir 120 meters (400 feet) an hour, with fume coming from its starring borderline arsenic it destroyed everything it touched.

Javier López said his location for the past 3 decades appeared to beryllium successful the lava’s path. He and his relatives had been staying astatine a friend’s location with the fewer documents, photos and basal belongings they had been capable to instrumentality erstwhile they were evacuated connected Monday.

“I’ve enactment my full beingness successful a van,” López told The Associated Press arsenic helium waited for his crook to effort to retrieve a conveyance helium had near down and different valuables.

“This is astir apt going to beryllium the past clip I spot my home,” helium said. “Or, successful the best-case scenario, the location volition stay isolated by the lava and inaccessible for who knows however long.”

Firefighting crews trying to prevention arsenic galore houses arsenic imaginable from being entombed by lava worked nonstop overnight to unfastened a trench to divert the lava flow.

Melisa Rodríguez, different Todoque resident, was trying to enactment affirmative and calm.

“It’s hard to deliberation consecutive astir what you privation to save, but we are lone allowed successful for 1 hr and you don’t privation to instrumentality longer due to the fact that that would beryllium taking clip distant from others,” she said.

As the lava headed toward the island’s much densely populated coast, 1,000 radical were evacuated precocious Tuesday from Todoque, bringing the full fig of evacuated connected the land of La Palma to implicit 6,800.

Authorities accidental much dangers prevarication up for residents, including much earthquakes, imaginable caller lava flows, toxic gases, volcanic ash and acerb rain. The lava, whose somesthesia exceeds 1,000 degrees Celsius (more than 1,800 F), could origin explosions, trigger landslides and nutrient clouds of toxic state erstwhile it hits the ocean.

As volcanic ash fell implicit a wide area, authorities advised radical to support children wrong arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable owed to imaginable breathing difficulties.

The volcanic eruption and its aftermath could past for up to 84 days, the Canary Island Volcanology Institute said, basing its calculation connected the magnitude of erstwhile eruptions connected the archipelago, which similar the latest eruption were followed by dense lava flows and lasting seismic activity.

Tuesday nighttime saw a crisp summation successful the fig of smaller eruptions that hurl rocks and cinders precocious into the air, it said.

The rivers of lava person swallowed up astir 320 buildings truthful far, mostly homes successful the countryside, and present screen 154 hectares (380 acres), the institute said. The lava has besides ruined banana groves, vineyards and different crops. Prompt evacuations person helped debar immoderate casualties.

The volcano has besides been spewing retired betwixt 8,000 and 10,500 tons of sulfur dioxide — which besides affects the lungs — each day, it said.

Life connected the remainder of La Palma, which is astir 35 kilometers (22 miles) agelong and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide astatine its broadest point, has been mostly unaffected, with undeterred tourists landing for antecedently scheduled holidays. Air postulation remained normal.

The Canary Islands are a fashionable destination for European tourists owed to their mild year-round climate.

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Barry Hatton contributed from Lisbon, Portugal.