ECUADOR: Tungurahua volcano continues erupting

Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spewed gas and ash for the fourth day on Wednesday (July 19) as droves of evacuees returned home to salvage what little was left from their ash-covered villages. Tungurahua, located about 80 miles (130 km) south of Quito, has been increasingly active since May, when it blew out big clouds of hot gas and prompted officials to renew a limited state of emergency in nearby towns. Emergency officials said around 1,600 people had taken refuge in make-shift shelters, but some had ignored repeated warnings and returned home to rescue their farm animals and recover belongings. However, most left their children in the shelters, explained one of the volunteers. "Normally, the parents return the same day to their houses, to the affected areas. They bring their children with them, but we have some children with conjunctivitis, skin infections - what we have done is to have the children here during the day so that they don't have to return to their houses," said Carla Silva, a teacher volunteering at a centre. A rain of molten rock in the past four days that set fire to trees and grass marks the volcano's strongest recorded activity since it began erupting in 1999, local scientists said. Flows of molten rock, ash and gas have blocked roads and destroyed bridges near farming hamlets tucked in the folds of 16,460-foot (5,020-metre) Tungurahua. Gray ash covered homes and corn fields, and the bodies of dead cows and chickens lay rotting. Emergency officials have said that if the volcano's activity increases this week, other nearby towns would be forced to evacuate. Scientists with Ecuador's geophysics institute said there was a high risk for towns located at the foot of Tungurahua. The volcano's crater is little more than a mile (1.6 km) south of the tourist resort town of Banos whose 17,000 residents were forced to evacuate in 1999 after loud explosions and huge plumes of ash billowed out of its crater. The government made a first release of $300,000 on Monday and President Alfredo Palacio has promised around $5.7 million in relief funds for the area. Emergency officials said shelters urgently needed more medicine, blankets and mattresses.

ITN Source | July 20, 2006

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