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Volcanic ash rains down
VOLCANIC ash fell from the sky on the Italian island of Sicily on Sunday, May 21, after Mount Etna erupted again.
According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, this occurred in at least one town located on the slopes of Europe’s most active volcano. Residents of Catania, eastern Sicily’s largest city, also found ash raining down on them.
As a result of reduced visibility, officials at the island’s Catania Airport grounded all flights. The weather in Sicily was already wet and cloudy so the materials thrown up by the volcano only added to the murky skies.
A post on the facility’s
Facebook page read: “Catania Airport: operations suspended until tomorrow morning, Monday May 22. Any updates will be communicated in due time.”
Sunday’s eruption should not have come as a surprise to anybody in Sicily. An alert was issued on Thursday May 18 by Italy’s Civil Protection Agency. It warned residents of possible ‘sud den’ variations’ in Etna’s mood after increased seismic activity was registered in recent days.
IN a disturbing turn of events, the greatnephew of France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, was brutally assaulted in an apparent politically motivated attack.
JeanBaptiste Trogneux fell victim to antigovernment protesters in Amiens shortly after President Emmanuel Macron’s televised address about the country’s hugely unpopular pension reforms on Monday, May 15. The vicious attackers mercilessly targeted JeanBaptiste Trogneux, causing severe injuries to his head, arms, and legs.
Etna is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site and towers impressively above the Mediterranean holiday destination at a height of 3,330 metres (10,925 ft).
The last major eruption however was back in 1992.
