LAVA MOVES THROUGH ICELANDIC TOWN
Houses caught on fire and a town had to be evacuated after a nearby volcano erupted in Iceland.
The small fishing town of Grindavik is located in the southwest area of the country and was hit when a stream of lava flew into it. It caused buildings to catch alight, just metres away from other buildings.
Even though the town is protected by anti-lava walls, authorities kept an eye on the flow with authorities moving closer and webcams.
This isn’t the first evacuation to take place because of the volcano erupting. The town was ordered to evacuate in November as well with a lot of the residents not returning since.
At this stage, a spokesperson for Iceland’s Civil Protection Agency warned people that it was “quite possible” for lava to reach the town and damage infrastructure.
So far, major roads in the town have been overflown with lava, causing the evacuation.
It’s believed the eruption happened hours after Iceland’s meteorological office reported an earthquake in the area.
Even though the town had been evacuated, the nearby airport in Keflavik was still open and declared safe as the volcano hadn’t produced any ash.
Image credit: RUV