Chile volcano could mean strife for travel
Ash from Chile’s spewing Calbuco volcano is threatening to spell travel misery in the region and beyond after it triggered the cancellation of domestic and international flights in several cities over the weekend.
A sleeping giant for more than 50 years, the volcano sprang to life in spectacular bursts of ash and lava last Wednesday and Thursday, forcing 6,500 people living nearby to evacuate and blanketed southern Chile in suffocating volcanic debris.
It coughed out more fire and ash on Saturday, with an ash cloud drifting eastward over Patagonia and Argentina, reaching Buenos Aires 2,000km away, where some airlines cancelled flights to and from the United States and Europe.
In the Chilean capital Santiago, domestic flights operated normally but some international flights were scrubbed.
A handful of flights were scrapped at Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport, and authorities urged people to use face masks to avoid inhaling ash particles.
“The volcano remains unstable and eruptions, principally ash, will continue for now,” Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service said in its latest report.
Experts have cautioned that a third eruption could still follow.
A state of emergency has been in place since Wednesday and authorities emptied a 20km radius around Calbuco, which is located in Los Lagos, a region popular with tourists for its scenic mountain landscapes dotted with volcanoes and lakes with black-sand beaches.
The 2,000-metre volcano last erupted in 1961 and showed light activity in 1972, according to official data.
Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull erupted in 2010, sending untold volumes of black ash thousands of metres into the sky.
Winds carried the huge cloud to northern Europe, affecting the weather and seriously disrupting aviation. More than 100,000 flights were cancelled and millions of passengers left stranded.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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