Dublin student who witnessed Mount Etna eruption caught in ‘fear and confusion' as people ‘ran in panic' from volcano

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

A DUBLIN student shared her experience of being caught in the middle of Mount Etna's eruption chaos in Italy yesterday.
The active stratovolcano erupted on the island of
3
Mount Etna has erupted on the island of Sicily
Credit: AP:Associated Press
3
Many tourists were seen running for their lives
Credit: X
Geologists monitoring the eruption revealed it was likely that part of the volcano's crater had collapsed and that this was the material being carried down its slopes.
A group of
The students booked onto a tour to see the famous volcano at 9.20am local time the night before the natural event.
READ MORE IN WORLD NEWS
During their tour, they noticed that the volcano was showing more activity than usual, but their tour guide simply stated that it was normal and there was no sense of alarm.
At around 11:20am, the minibus parked at an altitude of 2,800 metres and the students disembarked to view the volcano.
Just minutes later, an explosion of pyroclastic material, a dense mix of hot slabs of lava, pumice, ash and volcanic gas, caused a panic frenzy.
Talking to
Most read in Irish News
She said: "The tour guides and bus drivers ran in panic towards the buses and shouted at everyone to get to the buses fast.
"There was about five buses honking their horns in urgency.
Italy's Mount Etna puts on a stunning display in the early hour
"We waited for everyone to get on for around 10 minutes.
"People were taking pictures and there was no clear protocol to get everyone on board."
Marina pointed how that many panicked passengers were yelling for the buses to leave.
She added: "Eventually they drove us down to a lower, safer point and dropped everyone off to go collect the hikers in potential danger."
The Trinity students waited for the buses to return to the base for around 25 minutes.
Marina said: "People were coughing, some covered their noses and mouths.
"There were no clear instructions or protocol. The atmosphere was confusion, fear and anxiety."
Mount Etna is one of the world's most active volcanoes, meaning its eruptions are not uncommon and its outbursts rarely cause significant damage or injury.
The natural disruption appears to be minimal, with flights departing and arriving as usual at all
3
The natural disruption appears to be minimal, with no significant damage reported
Credit: Getty Images - Getty