The main danger came from gas and smoke from a fire in an industrial park en route to the lava, officer Miguel ngel Morcunde said at a news briefing.
“The committee preferred to order a lockdown to protect the people,” said Morkunde, who is the technical director of the Canary Islands government’s Volcano Crisis Committee.
He told reporters that some 2,500 to 3,000 residents of the fire were directly affected by the lockdown.
The volcano on La Palma began erupting on September 19 and it still hasn’t stopped. On its 23rd consecutive day of activity, the Canary Islands Volcanoes Institute posted video of a fresh eruption on Monday, showing a darker swath from the crater.
Lava had destroyed 591 hectares (or 1,460 acres) of agricultural land as of Monday – an increase of just 10% from the day before – with nearly half of the total lost banana plantations, and the rest ruined vineyards and avocados. In. Farms, Morcuende said.
The Volcanoes Institute tweeted that lava destroyed nearly 1,200 buildings on the island of La Palma, which has a population of about 80,000. It is one of the smaller islands in the Canary Islands of Spain in the Atlantic.
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