Italian army takes on Mount Etna

The Italian army has been called in to combat eruptions from Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano.

A convoy of military bulldozers was sent up the Sicilian mountain after a stream of lava destroyed three central pylons of Mount Etna's ski-lift and headed for the base station, Rifugio Sapienza.

The army bulldozers were sent in to reinforce the exhausted crews of workers using mechanical diggers to build earth walls around Rifugio Sapienza and the nearby base of the ski lift.

Police have also barred tourists from the road up the mountain.

During the night, the new stream of molten lava cut across the path of the lift as it headed down the mountain. Officials said the stream, which was moving at about 6ft per hour during the night, was speeding up.

Etna has been gushing lava from fractures on its southern slope for more than a week. Thunderous booms have accompanied the spurts of lava and ash, which have reached hundreds of feet high.

The volcano had calmed down over the past two days but grew restive overnight.

Emilio Poma, a spokesman for the volcano monitoring centre, said: "There's a new flow of magma which is going toward the tourist infrastructures. That's what's new.

"First there were just gas emissions. Now there's lava coming out of a new hole."

Etna, which towers 10,860 feet above Sicily, comes to life every few months. The last major eruption was in 1992. The only town threatened by lava is Nicolosi, home to 6,000 people, but the lava is still about 2.5 miles away and officials said it has slowed to a virtual standstill.