La Palma Residents Told to Lock Down As Volcano Lava Pours into Sea

In order to prevent the spread of toxic gas from the volcanoes Vieja Cumbre, authorities in Spain's Canary Islands have invited the residents of the West coast of Palma to seal their doors and window with tape and wet towels.

10 days of flashing of incandescent lava from the volcano poured into the sea in the Playa Nueva area, close to the Tazacorte village, early on Wednesday.

During the day, red hot lava sprang up above the waterline in the Atlantic Ocean, sending steam clouds and toxic gases into the sky. The volcano and molten rock were blowing with smoke clouds as the western flank of Cumbre Vieja flowed down.

"All the people in a 2-km radius have been evacuated," adding that there is no further evacuation as far as the cloud is concerned since it is moving east, Tazacorte Mayor Juan Miguel Rodriguez Acosta said to TV3.

He said all roads to the southern part of the islands had been cut off by the lava.

The Canary Islands’ emergency service urged those outdoors less than 3.5 km from the stricken area to immediately find a safe place to shelter. No injuries have been reported.

The emergency service personnel also told people to protect their mouths and noses with a wet cloth.

Since the eruption began on Sept. 19, lava has engulfed almost 600 houses as well as banana plantations in La Palma, which neighbours Tenerife in the Canary Islands off the North African coast.

Thousands of people have been evacuated and three coastal villages were locked down on Monday in anticipation of the lava reaching the sea.

Spain classified La Palma as a disaster zone on Tuesday, a move that will trigger financial support for the island.

(Reporting by Miguel Pereira, Marco Trujillo, Jon Nazca, Nacho Doce and Borja Suarez in La Palma; Writing by Inti Landauro and Andrei Khalip; editing by Mark Heinrich and Giles Elgood).