ECUADOR: Residents of Penipe gather to bury lone victim of Tungurahua volcano and take refuge as ashes envelop the area
- 00:00:24
- ITN Source
ECUADOR: Residents of Penipe gather to bury lone victim of Tungurahua volcano and take refuge as ashes envelop the area
In the impoverished town of Penipe, Ecuador, residents gathered on Friday (August 18, 2006) to bury the lone victim of the Tungurahua volcano, even as the volcano's menacing shadow loomed above. Thursday's volcanic eruptions spewed molten rock that enveloped nearby houses, forced thousands to flee from their homes and left Jaime Samaniego dead. In broken Spanish, his mother, Carmen Medina, recounted how she was told of his death. "(He was) Carbonized," Medina said, "with the lava that passed over him. Yesterday, they came to tell me that my son... he wasn't there, he disappeared, and in another day, they found him and they took him to the morgue." One of the country's 31 active volcanoes, Tungurahua (80 miles or 130 km south of capital city Quito) has covered dozens of villages and green pastures with grey ash. Authorities reported that 107 families lost their houses, fields and animals-- all buried under volcanic eruptions. At least 5,000 residents have evacuated and some, like Elba Palacios, were staying in nearby shelters. "I don't know what to do," Palacios said, "whether to be in the ash or not because my children's throats and heads are being affected." Scientists with the National Geophysics Institute said the explosions are part of the volcano's eruption process that started in 1999 after decades of inactivity. The activity stopped abruptly on Thursday morning but scientists predicted more explosions could be on the way.
ITN Source | August 19, 2006
