Mount Etna erupts sending tourists fleeing for lives as volcano explodes into life & smoke plume rises from mountain
MOUNT Etna has dramatically erupted, sending holidaymakers fleeing for their lives as smoke billowed from the mountain.
The highest active volcano in Europe began to erupt this morning in tourist hotspot Sicily, Italy.
Harrowing footage shows tourists desperately running for their lives as a gargantuan ash cloud forms above them.
An avalanche of boiling rock, ash, and gas is seen spewing from the mountain, with smoke visible for miles.
A terrifying volcanic tremor was felt just moments before the eruption.
The tremor began at roughly 10pm last night before reaching a peak three hours later in the middle of the night.
It was localised at an altitude of 2.8km below the crater area.
Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Toulouse (VAAC) issued a "code red" for aviation due to the unbelievable eruption today.
They explained that an ash cloud made predominantly of water and sulphur dioxide was "drifting towards the south west".
Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said: "Over the past few hours, the activity flagged in the previous statement issued at 4.14am (3.14am BST) has carried on with strombolian explosions of growing intensity that, at the moment, are of strong intensity and nearly continuous."
In the past, Etna’s eruptions have caused nearby towns to be covered in black volcanic ash.
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