Huge eruption on Italy's Mount Etna leaves tourists fleeing volcano
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here A massive eruption at Mount Etna has forced tourists to flee the volcano after a plume of high-temperature gases, ash and rock "several kilometres high" billowed into the air above them, Italian authorities say. Footage posted on social media shows long lines of people hurrying downhill away from the explosion on Monday while the owner of one tour company told CNN they had 40 people on the Sicilian volcano when it erupted. Giuseppe Panfallo, a guide with Go Etna, filmed his tour group huddled together with an enormous ash cloud in the distance. "We were nearly grazed, look at this cloud here. We were two steps away and thank goodness we have a responsible guide with us," he says in the video shared with CNN. "It arrived all at once, an immense smoke, immense, immense roar." About a dozen tour operators work on Etna at any given time, the Sicilian Civil Protection Agency told CNN, adding that they are contacting all of them to ensure everyone is accounted for. The volcano on the Italian island is a popular tourist destination visited by 1.5 million people a year, many of whom trek almost all the way to its summit. Although Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanos, there hasn't been an eruption of this magnitude since 2014, according to the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology Observatory. These eruptions often stop as quickly as they start, the observatory added, though explosions were still increasing in intensity and the mountain is spewing out a very small amount of lava and fire. Italy's Mount Etna erupts, with a volcanic plume rising from the south-east crater on June 2, 2025. (via CNN Newsource) This eruption, which began on Monday morning (Monday evening AEST), produced explosions heard as far away as Taormina and Catania, which are about 50 kilometres and 40 kilometres away, respectively, according to several witnesses who posted footage on social media. The observatory said that the preliminary observations show a "partial collapse" of the northern flank of the volcano's south-east crater, which has produced spectacular lava flows during recent eruptions in the last few months. None of the ash is expected to fall on Catania, the city at the foot of the volcano, though authorities are prepared to alert people to take cover if the wind changes, the city's mayor Enrico Tarantino told CNN. Nearby airports in Catania and Palermo remain open too as, currently, the wind is not blowing the ash in that direction. The Sicilian Civil Protection Agency instructed all flight travel to avoid the area and some flights from Catania have been directed to Palermo, according to Flight Radar Data. Smoke billows from Mount Etna volcano, Italy, on Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Distefano) Authorities have closed many of the roads heading up to the volcano to prevent people trying to get close to the eruption and from getting in the way of first responders and emergency vehicles, Tarantino added. About 1pm local time (9pm AEST), the volcano started spewing hot lava, which is more in line with previous eruptions, an observatory spokesman said. The observatory defined the volcanic activity as a pyroclastic eruption, resulting in a "significant increase in volcanic tremor and the formation of an eruptive column containing a lethal mixture of high-temperature gases, lava grains, volcanic ash, and rock fragments of various sizes that rapidly descends down the slopes of the volcano". Volcano
World
environment
nature
Italy
Europe
tourism
Tourist CONTACT US
Property News: You can only access this beach shack at low tide.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Perth Now
Nearly 100 private jets to fly to Venice for Bezos' wedding
More than 90 private jets carrying around 200 celebrity guests to the wedding of Amazon founder Jef Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are expected to arrive at Venice's Marco Polo airport over the days ahead, the Corriere della Sera newspaper has reported. Among those arriving in their own jets are TV personalities Oprah Winfrey, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian and billionaires Eric Schmidt of Google and Bill Gates of Microsoft. 'Marco Polo airport will practically become the global capital of the star system for almost a week,' the newspaper reported on Monday. Citing aviation sources, it said that 95 landings had thus far been registered. The first guests are expected on Tuesday. The city is already thronged with tourists crowding its narrow streets. It is not yet known when Bezos, 61, and Sánchez, 55, will arrive. The wedding celebration is expected to be held on Friday. Italian media report that Bezos' private yacht, the Koru, is currently off the Croatian coast. The couple is reported to have booked a suite at the Aman Venice, a hotel on the Grand Canal, where George Clooney and his wife Amal stayed when they got married in the city in 2014. The entire week has been arranged by London-based event managers Lanza Baucina.
Perth Now
5 hours ago
- Perth Now
Nearly 100 jets to fly into Venice for Bezos wedding
More than 90 private jets carrying around 200 celebrity guests to the wedding of Amazon founder Jef Bezos and Lauren Sánchez are expected to arrive at Venice's Marco Polo airport over the days ahead, the Corriere della Sera newspaper has reported. Among those arriving in their own jets are TV personalities Oprah Winfrey, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian and billionaires Eric Schmidt of Google and Bill Gates of Microsoft. "Marco Polo airport will practically become the global capital of the star system for almost a week," the newspaper reported on Monday. Citing aviation sources, it said that 95 landings had thus far been registered. The first guests are expected on Tuesday. The city is already thronged with tourists crowding its narrow streets. It is not yet known when Bezos, 61, and Sánchez, 55, will arrive. The wedding celebration is expected to be held on Friday. Italian media report that Bezos' private yacht, the Koru, is currently off the Croatian coast. The couple is reported to have booked a suite at the Aman Venice, a hotel on the Grand Canal, where George Clooney and his wife Amal stayed when they got married in the city in 2014. The entire week has been arranged by London-based event managers Lanza & Baucina.
The Age
13 hours ago
- The Age
A five-star home away from home on Australia's most exclusive island
The accommodation Island House, Lord Howe Island Check-in Lord Howe Island, with its turquoise waters, volcanic outcrops, lush vegetation and boisterous abundance of bird and sea life, sets a high bar. So when Tim Maxwell and his father, Michael, set out to replace their block of 1970s flats near fish-frenzied Ned's Beach, they took years debating how to best use the island's unique beauty, time-worn solidity and ongoing sustainability as a template. The result is Island House – really two houses, North and South – a built-to-last getaway for friends or family groups who value connection to people and nature, good food, art, books and music. The look Brooding island icon Mount Gower is not going anywhere; neither is architect-designed Island House, thanks to its hardwood and copper construction, oak-lined interiors, Italian marble, wide floorboards and four-metre ceilings. The agony and eventual ecstasy of a four-year build, which started in 2016 and tackled distance, storms, windswept barges, post-pandemic shortages and well-meaning suggestions to try-it-the-easier-way, reinforced the Maxwells' determination to build this property once and once only. The result is a private retreat that appears to have grown out of the island alongside ancient banyans and kentia palms. Both two-bedroom houses offer chef's kitchens and bars, Cheminees Philippe fireplaces, ceiling fans and extensive decks. Light-filled interiors are dressed with mid-century Danish furniture, Japanese ceramics and an eclectic mix of books, music, and Indigenous and other paintings and sculptures. A deck/dining area straddling the two properties acts as a communal space if, or when, the pavilion-style houses want to get together. The room
