Harrowing moment lava from Iceland volcano sets fire to house in its wake
Harrowing video shows lava thrown from the vicious Icelandic volcano setting fire to a family's home as the scorching river flowed through a small fishing town.
The volcano is erupting near of the south-western town of Grindavik after seismic overnight activity intensified overnight. Those residents who had yet to flee with evacuated a 3am and just hours later, the fiery stream of magma spilled into the street, caking a house before it burst into flames.
Images show the lava covering the side of one house before it goes up in smoke and you can follow the very latest on our live blog. The bulk of the lava field is further away from the town, covering the landscape. State broadcaster RUV said the house was vacant and no one was inside, even before the evacuation earlier in the day.
Just minutes after the blaze, a second house had been engulfed as the lava flowed through. The eruption occurred around 8am local time on Sunday, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. Images from a livestream showed bright orange lava rising up into the night sky.
Earlier, Grindavik's mayor Fannar Jonasson called the volcanic eruption a "big and serious shock for the population." He said: "This does not look good, because it is a relatively short way for the lava" to reach the town, he said. Iceland's President, Guðni Thorlacius Johannesson, will be addressing the nation tonight.
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"No lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat," he previous said in a statement on Twitter. Some infrastructure may be in danger, he explained, but added there will no interruption to flights in the days ahead. He confirmed Grindavik was successfully evacuated overnight.
Today's event is the second time the volcano has erupted in less than a month following a series of earthquakes, with residents evacuated in the early hours. Members of the community were previously evacuated from their homes in November for a period of six weeks following a volcanic eruption in December.
This is Iceland's fifth volcanic eruption in two years (AFP via Getty Images)The mayor of Akureyri, Ásthildur Sturludóttir, sent "warm and sincere greetings" to the residents of Grindavik. In a statement posted to Facebook, she said: "We can hardly find words to describe the grief that is over the nation, all of Iceland, now that the Grindavík people stand defenceless against such indescribable and merciless superpowers of nature.
"It is tragic to watch glowing lava paralyse this lush community and destroy all infrastructure. On behalf of the townspeople and the town council of Akureyri, I send sincere and warm greetings to the residents of Grindavík and hope that all good wishes give them strength in difficult times."
The eruption is not expected to send large amounts of ash into the air. Iceland sits above a volcanic hot spot located in the North Atlantic - and the Nordic country averages a volcanic eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
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