Red Sea volcano erupts for third straight day
Pastor Dale Morgan
Red Sea volcano erupts for third straight day
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HODEIDA, Yemen, Oct 2 (AFP) Oct 02, 2007
A volcano on a Yemeni island in the Red Sea was spewing a deadly mix of
lava and ash for the third straight day on Tuesday, after erupting for
the first time since the 19th century.
Yemeni authorities said three soliders had been killed during the
eruption on the island of Jabal al-Tair, home to a garrison of 50
soldiers, and that five others were missing.
The garrison had been evacuated after the eruption of the 1,200
metre-high (3,937 feet) volcano, which began on Sunday at 12:00 noon
(1000 GMT).
The bodies of the three soldiers were recovered from the sea, while a
fourth had been located alive, military official Abdel Bari Shamsan was
quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency.
Shamsan was speaking in the port city of Hodeida, some 150 kilometres
(90 miles) from the island.
An initial toll on Monday put the dead at six.
A Yemeni coast guard official told AFP the volcano remained active on
Tuesday, releasing lava, ash and black smoke high into the air.
A team of volcanologists dispatched to the area reported that the
eruption produced one kilometre (0.6 mile) long lava flows and blackened
the water within a 9.7 kilometre (six mile) radius of the island.
The eruption sparked a sea search by NATO warships passing through the
area on their way to the Suez Canal, after a request from the Yemeni
coastguard.
At first light on Tuesday, NATO and Yemeni naval vessels restarted their
search for the missing soldiers.
A coast guard official told AFP that maritime movement was not hampered
by the eruption, as major shipping routes in the area were located at
least 13 kilometres (eight miles) from the island.
There had been considerable seismic activity around the island ahead of
the eruption, the Yemeni defence ministry said on its website. It said
an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale had been recorded on
Friday.
The island has been garrisoned by the Yemeni authorities since the 1990s
when a longstanding territorial dispute with Eritrea over the ownership
of a series of islands in the Red Sea erupted into armed clashes.
The Permanent Court of Arbritration in The Hague eventually found in
Yemen's favour and awarded it sovereignty over the islands.
Yemen lies on the Arabian Peninsula and is one of the world's most
impoverished states.