Over 5,000 people have been evacuated over the past 24 hours after a volcanic eruption in the West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which sent a plume of ash 19 km into the sky.
Although Mount Ulawun is among the six most high risk volcanoes in the South Pacific country according to the PNG Geological Survey, disaster response officer Martina Taumosi told the Post Courier Newspaper on Thursday that the intense eruption which occurred at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday took locals by surprise.
Working quickly to move people from the areas of Ulamona and Noau to safety at Kabaya, the official said, "They could not move the villagers quickly because they were short of vehicles."
With just five vehicles shuttling people to safety, local community leader Chris Lagisa said responders worked non-stop to get villagers to safe ground.
XINHUA
