New fissure opens in Canary Islands volcano

A new fissure emerged in the erupting volcano on Spain's Canary Islands, gushing out more lava and forcing another 500 people to flee, officials said Tuesday.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano has forced a total of 6,000 people from their homes and destroyed around 100 properties since it erupted on Sunday afternoon.

In a tweet, the emergency services said that "a new eruptive fissure has opened" and that the "population is being evacuated".
At the scene, long lines of cars could be seen waiting to leave the area as police sirens wailed, the fiery glow of the erupting volcano lighting up the dark skies.

Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez flew to La Palma as Mount Cumbre Vieja erupted in El Paso, spewing out columns of smoke, ash and lava as seen from Los Llanos de Aridane on the Canary island of La Palma.

Canary Islands Volcanology Institute reported the initial eruption shortly after 3pm near the southern end of the island, which saw its last eruption in 1971.

La Palma, with a population of 85,000, is one of the eight volcanic islands in Spain’s Canary Islands archipelago off Africa’s western coast.

Sánchez has postponed his departure to New York for the UN General Assembly in order to travel to La Palma because of the volcanic eruption.

"I am at the moment heading to the Canary Islands because of the seismic evolution, to see first-hand the situation in La Palma, the coordination of the