Thousands flee as the Philippine volcano erupts, emitting toxic gas Volcanoes News

The Taal volcano has been burning sulfur dioxide for several days, creating thick fog and causing health warnings.

The Taal volcano in the Philippines has begun to evaporate and more than 2,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, filling the air with toxic gas and issuing health warnings.

Sitting on a sitting lake in Taal, Taal has been forming sulfur dioxide for several days, creating thick fog over Manila and several surrounding provinces.

At least 2,400 people have so far fled since the government called for the evacuation of villages on the shores of the lake, provincial disaster official Joselito Castro told AFP news agency.

“We hope to evacuate more residents in the coming days,” he said, adding that they were looking for shelter in schools closed by the coronavirus pandemic or in relatives ’homes.

It is one of the most active volcanoes regularly hit by Taal eruptions and earthquakes because it is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – an area of ​​intense seismic activity.

It is located 50 km (30 miles) south of Manila and has spilled volcanic smog over the past week in the capital.

Civil defense officials have warned that more than 317,000 people could suffer from volcanic toxic gas emissions in the worst case of the current eruption.

‘We don’t feel safe’

In Agoncillon, a town 120 miles south of Manila, police with megaphones went from house to house asking people to flee.

Neighbors only have a few hours to secure their belongings and move to a safer place – again. In January last year, in the previous eruption of Taal, it dumped ash 15 km (nine miles) high and threw red lava, crushed many houses, killed animals and sent more than 135,000 people to shelters.

Some families were now reluctant to leave their homes, as COVID-19 was concerned about possible outbreaks in crowded spaces.

“We also don’t feel very safe in evacuation centers, so we will stay with our relatives,” Ramon Anete, a neighbor of Agoncillo, told Al Jazeera.

At a center in the town of Laurel, evacuated Imelda Reyes said it was too much pain to see her children suffer.

“I don’t know what else to say,” he told Al Jazeera, trying to hold back tears. “I am praying. It’s a really difficult situation. “

Across the room, another evacuee, Imelda Calapatiya, was also overwhelmed.

“It’s a volcano, is it getting sick, getting KOVID?” he asked. “It’s very difficult to have so many children. I can’t sleep thinking about it. “