The billowing cloud of black smoke and ash punched four kilometres into the air and drifted 68 kilometres south-west of the crater in eastern Russia. The footage, which was recorded at Ebeko volcano, shows a couple of the hikers practically walking into the thunderous plume before coming to their sense and fleeing down the slope, albeit not exactly to safety. The incident was recorded on the 27th September on the Kuril Islands – a chain of volcanic land masses near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.
The town of Severo-Kurilsk, located seven kilometers away from the volcano, has not experienced ash fall.
Kamchatka boasts a staggering 160 volcanoes – and 29 of them are still active.
Ebeko returned from dormancy in 2016 and has not stopped spewing ash and cloud into the air since, although little lava has been spotted.
This part of Russia lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire – a trail of tectonically alive zones that circles the Pacific.
It is responsible for earthquakes and volcanic eruption on a near permanent basis.
Meanwhile, a volcano on the other side of the Pacific in Guatemala has forced 4000 people to evacuate.
The Volcán de Fuego lies just 19 miles outside Guatemala’s largest settlement, Guatemala city, whose population is over a million.
The ash cloud exceeds a height of 1km (3,280ft) above the 3,763m-tall (12,250ft) volcano.