10,000 flee Indian Ocean island volcano

A volcano erupted on the main island of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean today, sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes at the urging of the government, officials said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, said Mohamed Maanfou, deputy secretary general of the Comoros Red Crescent.

Lava started flowing out of the 7,746-foot Mount Karthala hours after the volcano started spewing ash and dark smoke over Grand Comore, the largest of the three Comoros islands, said Bernadette Ninyaratunga of the United Nations Children Fund.

A team of experts is flying over the volcano to assess the dangers and the damage caused so far, she said.

Some 10,000 people have fled their homes in fear of the eruption. They have taken shelter with relatives in several towns, including the capital, Moroni, Maanfou said.

The volcano last erupted in July 1991. No one was killed then, but tens of thousands of villagers left their homes.

While the volcano spewed ash and smoke before the eruption, officials urged residents to leave eastern parts of Grand Comore, and mobilised trucks and other vehicles to evacuate people from the area most affected by volcanic ash, Giuseppina Mazza, head of the UN team in the Comoros, said yesterday.

Medical teams were also dispatched to aid those who had breathing problems because of the ash, she said.

The lava is flowing to the eastern and probably south-eastern slopes of the mountain, Maanfou said in the Comoros capital, Moroni.

Emergency officials were worried that the volcano may spew sulphur and other toxic gases.

“The authorities of the Comorian Union sent a letter asking the Comoros Red Crescent to request its partners for protection masks that would protect against noxious gases that often are emitted by the mountain during eruptions,” Maanfou said.

Officials in Comoros have already set up an emergency team to monitor and co-ordinate a response to the situation, Mazza said. They have also put in place an emergency team to inform people about dangers from Mount Karthala.

The mountain lies at the centre of the southern half of Grande Comore, and the town of Moroni, with a population of about 50,000, sits at the foot of the western slope of Mount Karthala.

Comoros, a republic that gained independence from France in 1975, lies about 185 miles east of Mozambique and 250 miles west of Madagascar.

One of the world’s poorest countries, it has a young and rapidly increasing population of about 770,000, and few natural resources.