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Carmelo Saia
Tourists watch the explosion from a beach on the island of Lipari
A volcano has erupted on the Italian island of Stromboli, killing one person and covering the island in ash.
The victim, reportedly a tourist, was killed by a falling stone, a rescue service official told the Reuters news agency. A second person was injured.
Firefighters were tackling blazes caused by the eruption.
“We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar,” said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel on the island.
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EPA
Ash rising from Stromboli after the explosion
“We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud,” he said.
Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 17 miles from Stromboli, heard the eruption.
“We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra,” she told Reuters.
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AFP
View of the volcano from the nearby island of Panarea
Holidaymakers were reported to have run into the sea after seeing ash rising from the volcano. The island is a popular location for holiday homes of the rich and famous.
Stromboli is known as the “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean”. Its volcano is one of the most active on the planet and has been under an almost constant state of eruption since 1932.