Volcano ash closes Sicilian airport once again

Flights to and from Sicily's Catania airport were again suspended this evening because of clouds of ash released by the eruption…

Flights to and from Sicily's Catania airport were again suspended this evening because of clouds of ash released by the eruption of Mount Etna, the airport said.

The airport on the southern Italian island is due to reopen tomorrow morning, officials said.

Visibility on Sicily's roads and in the air was as low as 10 metres in places due to ash and sand still being pumped into the air by the volcano's southern crater, said by experts to have now entered its final phase of eruption.

The volcano has expelled an estimated 25 million tonnes of ash since it began erupting eight days ago.

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The ground continued to shake on Monday around the volcano, where the strongest tremors registered up to 3.1 on the Richter scale.

AFP