Thousands of La Palma residents locked down as eruption mars air quality

[December 13, 2021]    LA PALMA (Reuters) - Thousands of residents of Spain's La Palma island were ordered to stay at home on Monday due to "extremely adverse" air quality generated by the Cumbre Vieja volcano that has smouldered for almost three months.

 The Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to expel lava and ash as seen from El Paso, on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Borja Suarez

The eruption, which has sent spectacular rivers of molten lava running down the slopes of Cumbre Vieja since Sept. 19, is the longest running on the Spanish Canary island since records began in 1500.

Around 24,500 residents in Los Llanos de Aridane, El Paso and Tazacorte - a third of La Palma's inhabitants - were asked to stay indoors due to emissions of sulphur dioxide that have reached toxic levels, authorities said.

Emergency services instructed residents to shut their windows and turn off air conditioning units to avoid inhaling toxic fumes. They also recommended postponing outdoor activities and advised people to wear a heavy-duty mask if they had to venture out.

In affected municipalities, students were told to remain in schools and parents not to pick them up until the air quality clears.

Lava flows have damaged or destroyed at least 2,910 buildings, according to the EU satellite monitoring system Copernicus, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes on the island, part of the subtropical Canaries archipelago.

(Reporting by Marco Trujillo and Borja Suárez; writing by Emma Pinedo; editing by Nathan Allen and Mark Heinrich)

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