Thousands flee erupting volcano

Thousands of people were forced to flee after a Colombian volcano erupted in a shower of hot ashes.

The remote Nevado del Huila, 150 miles from the capital Bogota, erupted shortly before midnight last night.

The extent of the eruption was not clear, but even minor ones could cause landslides and flooding by melting the snow and ice cap atop the 17,484-foot volcano.

About 3,500 people were leaving or being evacuated from the villages of Belalcazar and Paez, which are susceptible to flooding of the Rio Paez, said a Red Cross spokesman.

Cesar Lopez, director of geologic services at the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining, said that the volcano “is now more calm, but we will have to analyse whether to maintain the red alert.”

Eruptions last year at the Nevado del Huila were its first on record since the mid-16th century.

The latest was preceded by seismic rumblings starting on April 8.

In 1985, the town of Armero was wiped off the map and 25,000 people were killed when another volcano, the Nevado del Ruiz, exploded and set off a series of mudslides.