Mount Etna erupts in huge volcanic blast sending tourists fleeing

Описание: Mount Etna has erupted in Sicily, Italy, with a huge column of smoke and ash sending tourists fleeing.

Footage shared on social media shows tourists running down the mountainside following an eruption from Europe’s largest active volcano.

The tremor began at around 10pm on Sunday (1 June) before reaching a peak at 1am on Monday (2 June).

The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Etnean Observatory, said the pyroclastic flow - an avalanche of hot rock, ash, and gas - was “probably produced by a collapse of material from the northern flank of the South-East Crater”.

Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued a brief “code red” for aviation due to the eruption but this has since been downgraded to orange.

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