The Philippines placed Albay province under a ‘state of calamity’ on Tuesday as more than 34,000 residents were forced to scramble to safety.
As glowing red lava continued to creep down the slopes of Mount Mayon officials strongly advised people not to venture into a danger zone around 3.7 to 4.3 miles) surrounding the volcano.
But as thousands continue to flee, tourists have flocked to the city to watch and photograph the spectacle, with many taking selfies and pictures of the lava fountains on Mayon’s crater.
Danny Garcia, spokesman for Albay province, said: “It’s a spectacle to watch. Its beauty and fury in one, especially at night.
“But it’s a natural phenomenon so we don’t know when explosive eruption will happen.”
Mayon is situated in the coconut-growing central Bicol region which draws tourists because of its near-perfect cone shape.
Dorothy Colle, head of provincial tourism office, said safety check points had been set up to keep people safe.
She said: “Most visitors are domestic tourists. There are fewer foreign tourists because of the cancelled flights. But if the weather improves, we expect more tourists to come.
“We are asking tourists to stay beyond the 8km-radius danger zone because we need to prioritise their safety.”
Office of Civil Defence regional director Claudio Yucot added: ”They say it’s beauty juxtaposed with danger.”
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it had recorded nine more tremors, four of which accompanied lava fountains, as pressure leads to lava flows and ash plumes.
Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara added: “This kind of eruption, it will take about weeks, so we have to sustain the operations in the evacuation centres.
”We need to use the calamity funds.”