La Palma volcano news: Thousands evacuated as eruption sparks toxic gas fears

Live updates on Canary Islands eruption

The La Palma Volcano eruption is captured from an Observatory on Sunday

At least 10,000 people may have to be evacuated after a volcano erupted on the Spanish Canary Island of La Palma on Sunday, as authorities warned lava flowing into the sea could release toxic gas.

Over 160 homes have been destroyed since the eruption with some 6,000 people ordered to leave their homes in villages close to the volcano.

Lava streaming from the volcano is now close to reaching the sea, sparking concerns the flow could mix with saltwater to produce “explosions and the emission of toxic gases”, according to the crisis team at the Canary Islands Volcano Emergency Plan (Pevolca).

Experts have warned that a large explosion of water steam could be triggered once the lava tongue, which has a temperature of more than 1,000C, makes contact with the sea.

The steam plume resulting from the explosion could cause hydrochloric acid and small volcanic glass particles to fall, though it is unclear when this will happen.

Meanwhile, some 360 tourists were evacuated following the eruption and taken to the nearby island of Tenerife by boat on Monday, a spokesperson for ferry operator Fred Olsen said.

Key Points

• Burning lava destroys at least 100 houses
• Thousands forced to evacuate as plume of smoke rises high into sky
• Latest travel advice as flights cancelled
• Lava from volcano flows towards the sea

[21 September 2021 15:35 · Daniel Keane]

Lava ‘advancing at speed of 0.7km per hour’

The lava streaming from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma is advancing at 0.7km per hour, according to estimations made by experts from the Canary Islands Volcanological Institute (Involcan).

The group warned that its route threatens further areas of the island including the towns of La Bombilla, Puerto Naos and El Remo.

Involcan estimates that under the Cumbre Vieja there are at least 17 million cubic meters of magma that could rise to the surface.

This would be the equivalent of filling 291 acres of one of Madrid’s biggest parks, El Retiro, the group said.

[21 September 2021 15:48 · Daniel Keane]

Eruption ‘could make us bankrupt’, farmer warns

Traffic jams were seen on the winding narrow roads of La Palma at dusk on Tuesday as curious residents flocked to snap photos of the lava’s advance towards the sea.

However, farmers and grape growers warned that the effect of the eruption could be devastating for their crop.

Pedro Jose Alegria, 70, a farmer who had returned to the area of La Laguna on the island, told the Associated Press that he fears for several of the greenhouses he owns on a banana plantation that looks out to the Atlantic Ocean.

He said: “This is no joke... The volcano may not kill us directly, but its going to make a lot of us go bankrupt.”

Farming is La Palma’s main source of income, with nearly 7,413 acres planted with banana trees that provide jobs for over 10,000 of the island’s 85,000 residents.

Additional reporting by Associated Press.

[21 September 2021 16:08 · Daniel Keane]

PM announces steps will be taken to declare emergency zone

Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has announced steps will be taken to declare an emergency zone on the island of La Palma following Sunday’s eruption.

Mr Sanchez confirmed that the Council of Ministers will on Friday take “the first steps to activate the procedure for the declaration of a Civil Protection emergency zone by the Government of Spain.”

“They are going to be long weeks in which we will have to work together with all the institutions to be able to assess the damage,” Mr Sanchez said.

“I want to make it clear that the management of the crisis will not end when the lava reaches the sea, but when La Palma recovers its normality.

“That is where the Government of Spain and the rest of the administrations will be,” he added.