Costa Rica volcano spews 3-kilometre smoke cloud amid eruption

Mexico City, May 26, (dpa/GNA) – The Rincón de la Vieja volcano in Costa Rica has spewed a cloud of smoke 3 kilometres high, the national civil protection agency CNE said on Thursday.

The CNE said that steam, ash and gases had risen above the crater. The agency said that the volcano, located in a national park in the north-west of the Central American country, has been in “constant eruption.”

“In the case of this last eruption, there was an expulsion of material from the bottom of the main lake that will generate hot mud currents (lahars) towards the channels of the northern part,” the agency said in a tweet.

The volcano is located around 270 kilometres north-west of the capital San José.

The 1,900 metre high mountain is one of the most active volcanoes in Costa Rica. After a quiet phase, increased activity has been recorded there since April. Authorities urged people not to go near the volcano.

A volcano in Mexico has also been very active for weeks. The Popocatépetl, 85 kilometres south-east of Mexico City, covered several towns with a layer of ash.

GNA