New lava vents burst open in La Palma volcano as eruption forces airport to close
CBSN
Huge bursts of lava were seen shooting into the air on the Spanish island of La Palma on Friday as new vents opened in the Cumbre Vieja volcano. The intense lava flows that started last Sunday have forced thousands to evacuate, and on Saturday, an accumulation of ash forced the small island's airport to close.
Photos posted by the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands on Saturday show thick, dark smoke plummeting out of the volcano. The institute, known as INVOLCAN, said that an emission vent had opened west of the initial one. However, the amplitude of the volcanic tremor had "decreased notably" as of Saturday night local time, the institute said.
The latest eruptions forced the La Palma airport to close early Saturday morning due to an accumulation of ash, Spanish airport operator Aena tweeted. By 12:30 p.m. ET, the operator tweeted that workers were in the process of removing ash from the runways.
