(Manila) Heavy rains brought a mudslide and volcanic debris to a village in the central province of Negros in the Philippines, two days after the eruption of Mount Kanlaon.
Images posted on Facebook and verified by AFP on Wednesday show a torrent of gray mud and stones, also called cold lava or lahar, descending along a watercourse in Biaknabato.
Residents are seen walking barefoot across the large flow that covers a road in the village, located five kilometers below the volcano.
“We are sinking up to our knees in the lahar,” Stills Fernandez, of the municipal disaster response agency, told AFP.
A bulldozer and three dump trucks have been deployed to clean up the mud that has stopped flowing, but Stills Fernandez said it “could take a while” to clear the road.
No deaths or injuries were immediately reported.
“We are still determining the extent and volume of the lahar,” said Teresito Bacolcol, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Mr Bacolcol warned the public that the lahar contained volcanic ash and was “dangerous”.
Leah Martinez, 37, filmed the torrent of volcanic debris flowing down a rocky stream near her village of Masulog, also close to the volcano.
“Before the lahar flowed, there was like a new sound of thunder. I thought there was a new volcanic eruption,” she told AFP.
At least 2,800 people were evacuated after the eruption, and found refuge on Tuesday in emergency centers to protect themselves from the risks of ash fallout and gas fumes, according to authorities.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level from one to two on a scale of five, warning of more possible volcanic eruptions
The Philippines is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” made up of more than half of the globe’s volcanoes.
Kanlaon is one of the 24 active volcanoes of the archipelago.