La Palma’s airport reopens but no Fights as Volcano Still Erupting
- Details on the Lava flow
- Damage the lava has done to the city
The airport on the Spanish island of La Palma reopened on Sunday although all flights were canceled as the volcano spewed lava and emitted ash clouds over the surrounding area a week after it began erupting. Experts said on Sunday there were two active lava flows, one fast-moving flow to the north and a slower one to the south.
“We have a flow to the north that is moving quickly… this lava comes from more interior areas of the crater and its temperature is about 1,250 degrees,” said Miguel Angel Morcuende, director of volcano response committee Pevolca, told a news conference on Sunday.
Reuters drone footage showed a rapid river of red hot lava flowing down the slopes of the crater, passing close to homes, and swathes of land and buildings engulfed by a black mass of slower-moving, older lava.
Lava destroyed the village church in Todoque on Sunday afternoon, its bell tower crumbling under the flow. It narrowly escaped earlier in the week when lava stopped just short of the church.
