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| File photo: A tourist stands in front of Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest and most active volcano, as it spews lava during an eruption on the southern island of Sicily |
Ten people were injured in an eruption on Mount Etna on Thursday when magma flowing into snow caused a violent explosion that sent stones and rocks flying into the air, emergency services said.
Amongst those hurt near the summit of Etna on the island of Sicily were members of a television crew filming for the BBC.
โRunning down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam โ not an experience I ever ever want to repeat,โ the BBCโs science correspondent Rebecca Morelle wrote on Twitter.
โBBC team all ok โ some cuts/ bruises and burns. Very shaken though โ it was extremely scary,โ she said.
Italian officials said six people had to be taken to hospital, but none were in a serious condition.
Etna is Europeโs most active volcano. After a quiet couple of years it burst into action in February with repeated explosive eruptions that sent orange plumes of lava into the air.
Thursdayโs explosion was the result of a so-called phreatomagmatic eruption, caused by magma hitting water โ in this case snow.
