Lava from Canaries’ volcano reaches sea nine days after eruption

Huge clouds of steam billow into air as red-hot lava touches the water amid concerns of explosions, toxic gas.

Red hot lava from an erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma has reached the Atlantic Ocean, nine days after it started to flow down the mountain, wrecking buildings and destroying crops.

Photographs showed huge clouds of white steam billowing up from the Playa Nueva area as the lava made contact with the water late on Tuesday night, amid concerns of explosions and the release of toxic gases.

“The lava flow has reached the sea at Playa Nueva,” the Canary Islands Volcanic Institute (Involcan) said on its Twitter account. The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on September 19.