Flights were cancelled as Europe’s most active volcano erupted, sending ash falling onto the airport. Mount Etna sent flames and ash soaring into the air when it began erupting yesterday (Sunday), causing chaos in Catania, eastern Sicily’s largest city.
All aircraft were grounded and those incoming were diverted at the city’s airport. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), which closely monitors Etna with instrumentation on the slopes, noted that cloud cover on a rainy day was impeding views of the eruption, which often serves up a spectacular display of flaming lava during the volcano’s not infrequent eruptions.
The institute said that ash had fallen on Catania and at least one town on Mount Etna’s inhabited slopes. No injuries were reported.
