Ash from Chile’s spewing Calbuco volcano threatened Saturday to spell travel misery in the region and beyond after it triggered the cancellation of domestic and international flights in several cities.
A sleeping giant for more than 50 years, the volcano sprang to life in spectacular bursts of ash and lava Wednesday and Thursday, forcing 6,500 people living nearby to evacuate and blanketed southern Chile in suffocating volcanic debris.
It coughed out more fire and ash Saturday, with an ash cloud drifting eastward over Patagonia and Argentina, reaching Buenos Aires 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away, where some airlines cancelled flights to and from the United States and Europe.
In the Chilean capital Santiago, domestic flights operated normally but some international flights were scrubbed.
A handful of flights were scrapped at Montevideo’s Carrasco International Airport, and authorities urged people to use face masks to avoid inhaling ash particles.
“The volcano remains unstable and eruptions, principally ash, will continue for now,” Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service said in its latest report.
Experts have cautioned that a third eruption could still follow.
