LA PALMA ISLAND, Spain: Spanish officials on Tuesday ordered hundreds more residents to leave their homes on La Palma in the Canary Islands, as lava continues to ooze from its volcano.
La Cumbre Vieja began erupting on September 19 and has already forced more than 6,000 people from their homes, with lava wrecking 1,200 buildings and scorching 600 hectares (1,400 acres) on the Atlantic island off Morocco’s coast.
Emergency services wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that a new evacuation order had been issued “owing to the forecast of the advance of the lava flow.”
“The 700 to 800 people affected by this evacuation order should leave their homes, with their belongings and pets,” the services tweeted, telling the residents to go to a meeting point in the western town of Los Llanos de Aridane.
On Monday, about 3,000 people were ordered to stay indoors after lava destroyed a cement works and raised fears that toxic gases might be released.
Despite the massive damage caused by the eruption on La Palma, home to 85,000 people, nobody has been killed or injured.
It is the island’s third volcanic eruption in a century, the last one taking place in 1971.
Volcano forces hundreds more to flee on Spanish island
https://arab.news/m8v95
Volcano forces hundreds more to flee on Spanish island
- La Cumbre Vieja began erupting on September 19
- Emergency services wrote on Twitter that a new evacuation order had been issued "owing to the forecast of the advance of the lava flow"
Debris removal steps up at Karachi fire-hit plaza as death toll nears 60
- KMC teams remove debris under safety precautions as search for the missing continues
- Authorities are keeping agencies on alert amid rain forecast as the site remains unstable
ISLAMABAD: Municipal and rescue teams stepped up debris removal operations at a fire-hit shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi on Wednesday, as officials said the death toll from the blaze has climbed to nearly 60 and the search for missing victims continues.
Teams from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) are clearing rubble from Gul Plaza, a multi-story shopping complex where a fire broke out late Saturday, under strict safety measures, with debris being transported to a designated ground in the city’s Meva Shah area, an official statement said.
“Rescue teams are continuously engaged in search and clearance operations to locate any remaining victims,” the statement circulated by the KMC said, adding that authorities were aiming to complete the process as soon as possible while ensuring safety.
Located in Karachi’s densely populated Saddar district, the fire at Gul Plaza burned for more than 24 hours before being brought under control. The blaze gutted more than 1,200 shops, triggered partial structural collapse and left dozens of people trapped inside.
With rain forecast in the coming days, authorities have placed all relevant departments on alert and are making contingency preparations to prevent further risks at the site, the KMC statement said.
The disaster at the shopping mall has renewed scrutiny of fire safety standards in Karachi’s commercial buildings, where overcrowding, illegal construction and weak enforcement have repeatedly contributed to deadly incidents.
Following the Gul Plaza fire, the Sindh Building Control Authority has warned developers and building owners to address fire safety violations or face legal action.
Deadly fires remain a recurring threat in the city of more than 20 million people, despite periodic crackdowns ordered after major disasters.
