Two days after the Calbuco volcano erupted in southern Chile, ash still blankets the streets and homes of a nearby town.
Residents in the area were captured by photographers shovelling ash off roofs and from underneath cars. Other photos captured dogs and cows resting or walking on piles of ash.
Ensenada, Chile, a small town of roughly 1,500 people was covered with ash on Wednesday afternoon after the volcano erupted for the first time in more than four decades.
The volcano spewed a plume of ash roughly 10 kilometres high with much of it piling up on the homes, cars, and streets of Ensenada. Authorities evacuated some 4,000 people from the small town about 1,000 kilometres south of Santiago. No injuries were reported.
“I was shocked. I had just arrived home when I looked through the window and saw the column of smoke rising up. We called our families, posted photos,” said Daniel Palma, who lives in Puerto Varas.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared a state of emergency in the wake of the eruption and the Chilean National Geology and Mining Service warned there could be a third and “even more aggressive eruption” to come.
“We don’t have any problems with supplies, water or sewage up to now. That’s not the problem,” said Bachelet, who visited the area Thursday. “Our problem is a respiratory one, from inhaling all of this ash, and the fact that this ash could generate some sort of environmental contamination.”
– With files from The Associated Press
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