Andes volcano erupts destroying three villages

A VOLCANIC eruption in Ecuador’s Andes mountains destroyed three villages, killed at least one man and left more than 60 others missing, the mayor of a village on the volcano’s slope said yesterday.

One body was recovered after the overnight eruption of lava from Tungurahua, in the country’s high Andes, and four others were believed to be under the rubble, Penipe Mayor Juan Salazar said.

Mr Salazar told Channel 4 television that the villages of Chilibu, Choglontuz and Palitagua “no longer exist. Everything is wiped out.”