Some 3,000 residents of the Spanish island of La Palma were ordered to confine themselves Monday, October 11 after lava from the erupting volcano destroyed a cement plant, releasing potentially toxic gases, local authorities have alerted.
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“
An area of the cement factory is on fire. Therefore, and until we can analyze whether the air quality allows a normal life, we have decided to confine,
”announced the director of the emergency cell set up after the eruption, Miguel. Ángel Morcuende, during a press conference. “
2,500 to 3,000 people
” must remain in areas close to this cement plant located to the west of the island, in the Canary Islands, he said.
This cement plant was crossed by a lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which erupted on September 19.
This eruption did not kill or injure, but it resulted in the evacuation of more than 6,000 people, some of whom lost everything in the lava flows, which devastated nearly 600 hectares and more than 1,200 buildings, according to the reports. authorities.
Flights to and from the island of La Palma resumed on Saturday after a two-day hiatus due to ash from the eruption.
The island of La Palma, which has 85,000 inhabitants, is currently experiencing its third eruption in a century, after that of the San Juan volcano in 1949 and that of Teneguía in 1971.