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Date Published: 12/10/2021
ARCHIVED - Thousands confined in La Palma due to toxic gases
A new lava stream has caused a fire at a cement plant in La Palma
As the disruption caused by the eruption of the La Palma volcano more than three weeks ago shows no sign of abating, Pevolca, the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan, was forced to order the home confinement of almost 3,000 people on Monday October 11 in the municipalities of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane as toxic gases pose serious health risks.
One of the volcano cones collapsed over the weekend, sending rocks the size of three-storey buildings cascading into the lava below and causing two new streams to develop. One of these, which is progressing slowly, set fire to a cement plant in Callejón de la Gata industrial estate and the gases emitted have led to the home confinement.
Más imágenes de la erupción esta tarde a las 18.15 (hora canaria) desde la carretera de San Nicolás / More footage of the eruption this afternoon at 6.15 p.m. (Canarian time) from San Nicolás road #lapalma pic.twitter.com/qp4xgKxZiP
— INVOLCAN (@involcan) October 11, 2021
According to the National Geographic Institute (IGN), the air quality outside of the confined municipalities continues to be “reasonably good”, while sulfur dioxide levels remain for the most part below the alert threshold of 500 grams per cubic metre.
The ash cloud, which has grounded flights and buried buildings and farm land over the past few days, continues to disrupt the operation of La Palma airport, and a westerly wind is expected to blow more ash over the runway in the coming days. The situation is not expected to affect Tenerife airports.
Nuestros compañeros nos han enviado este vídeo de la erupción a las 11.30 (hora canaria) desde el Camino José Antonio Jiménez en Las Manchas / Our colleagues has sent us this video of the eruption at 11.30 a.m. (Canarian time) from Camino José Antonio Jiménez in Las Manchas pic.twitter.com/hhyuPKCo1J
— INVOLCAN (@involcan) October 11, 2021
So far, the lava has affected 591.1 hectares of land, having increased its destructive path by 65.33 hectares since Sunday, a notable increase of 10%. Farm land throughout the island has been decimated, with banana farmers the worst affected, followed by producers of grapes and avocados. Of course, the volcanic material has left more destruction in its wake, demolishing 753 buildings, 620 of which are homes.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, has announced that he will return to La Palma on Wednesday October 13 for his fourth visit since the eruption and once there will detail the new measures to support those worst affected by the natural disaster. Last week, a total of 206 million euros in aid for the Canary Island was agreed by the Council of Ministers.
Image: Involcan
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