Ash Coats Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent After Volcano Eruption

RABAKA, SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES - The small eastern Caribbean island of Saint Vincent was blanketed with a thin layer of ash and a “strong sulfur” smell hung in the air on Saturday, a day after a volcano spectacularly erupted after decades of inactivity.

The eruption of La Soufriere on Friday pumped dark clouds of ash some 10 kilometers into the air, prompting an evacuation of some nearby residents. Rumbling noises continued to emanate from the volcano, with ash coating rooftops, cars and roads in Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Videos from Saint Vincent showed a ghost-like landscape. A Reuters witness in the town of Rabaka, about 3 kilometers from the volcano, said the ground was covered with about 30 centimeters of ash and rock fragments from the blast. Ash clouds blotted out the sun, giving the sky a bleak twilight look.