Image copyright Carmelo Saia Image caption Tourists watch the explosion from a beach on the island of Lipari

A volcano has erupted on the Italian island of Stromboli, killing one person and sending frightened tourists fleeing.

The victim is a male hiker who was hit by a falling stone, while other people were injured.

The navy has been deployed for a possible mass evacuation, with 70 people already evacuated.

The volcano is one of the most active on the planet and has been under a regular state of eruption since 1932.

"Unfortunately one man is dead, there are a few injured, but none seriously," emergency worker Calogero Foti told Italy's Rai television.

The victim was a 35-year-old man from Sicily who was hiking when the volcano erupted twice. His Brazilian friend was discovered dehydrated and in a state of shock, the AGI news agency reported.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Ash rising from Stromboli after the eruption

Firefighters are battling flames on the island.

"We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar," said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel on the island.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud," she said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Columns of ash rise from the eruption of the volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 17 miles from Stromboli, heard the eruption.

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she said.

Image copyright AFP Image caption View of the volcano from the nearby island of Panarea

Holidaymakers were reported to have run into the sea after seeing ash rising from the volcano. The island is a popular location for holiday homes of the rich and famous.

Stromboli is known as the "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean" and has a population of around 500. The last major eruption was in 2002, when a blast destroyed local buildings and piers, injuring six. </s> A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted on Wednesday, releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion, killing one person and enveloping the popular tourist destination in ash.

The person, believed to be a tourist, was killed by falling stones during a walk, a rescue service official said. A second person was injured.

The unexpected eruption started fires on the western side of the small Mediterranean island, which lies north of Sicily, off the toe of Italy.

Fire crews were being called in from nearby locations and a Canadair plane was already in action. The popular tourist destination was envolved in smoke.

The National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) confirmed a series of unexpected explosions on the small Mediterranean island, which began at 4.51pm local time.

'We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar,' said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island.

'We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud,' she said.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 27 km (17 miles) from Stromboli, heard the blast.

'We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra,' she said.

'The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli,' she added.

One witness described the eruption as 'sudden and violent'.

'Tourists diving into the sea to avoid lava after Stromboli eruption,' they wrote on Twitter. 'It's not a particularly active volcano, so that's a surprise.'

INGV expert Stefano Branca said there had been a 'paroxysmal eruption' on the island, when high-pressure magma explodes from a shallow, underground reservoir.

'These are events of great intensity and quite rare,' he said.

Tourists often climb to the 924-metre (3,000-foot) summit of the volcano and peer into its crater, with small puffs of molten rock regularly blasted into the sky. It was not clear if anyone was on the crater at the time of the latest blast.

According to the geology.com website, Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932.

The island was the setting for a 1950 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and, with other islands in the Aeolian archipelago, has become a favourite location in recent decades for holiday homes for the rich and famous. </s> A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted dramatically on Wednesday, reportedly killing a hiker, and sending tourists fleeing.

The volcano is known to be active, but on Wednesday there was a particularly powerful eruption.

Italian media reported that a hiker had been killed and their partner injued, but firefighters could not immediately confirm any casualties.

"It was like being in hell because of the rain of fire coming from the sky," Italian news agencies quoted local priest Giovanni Longo as saying.

He said it was not known if there were any hikers on the volcano at the time of the eruption, which caused fires around the village of Ginostra.

Italian media reported that some tourists had fled into the sea after the eruption, while others had barricaded themselves into homes.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said, there were two huge explosions on the central-southern side of the volcano's crater at around 1446 GMT Wednesday.

The explosions were preceded by lava spills "from all the active mouths of the crater terrace," the INGV said, prompting a two-kilometre high plume of smoke.

A firefighting plane could not put out fires in the area because of the amount of smoke, Italian media reported.

The INGV said it was monitoring the situation.

Stromboli is part of the seven-island Eolian Archipelago just off Sicily in southern Italy. </s> A tourist has died and another seriously injured after a volcano unexpectedly erupted on an island in the Mediterranean today.

Emergency services say they dashed to Stromboli volcano on the Italian island off the coast of the mainland this afternoon.

The disaster has killed at least one person, thought to be from Italy.

Tourists, frightened by the unexpected explosion, have thrown themselves into the sea at nearby beaches, according to reports.

Pictures show molten lava and ash spewing from the volcano, which is not believed to be an active one.

It's also shooting out red-hot rocks called lapilli, local sources claim.

"A huge column of dense black smoke is coming out of the crater," one witness said.

Another added: "There was a powerful explosion. We heard a bang, then a column of smoke and lapilli fell onto Ginostra, and flames on the slopes of the volcano".

The fire service the eruption has caused blazes to break out across the tiny rural islands.

People on Twitter have expressed their concern.

"Major #eruption on #Stromboli sudden and major, I really hope everyone is ok the whole mountain just blew up a few seconds ago," wrote one user.

Another posted: "Tourists diving into the sea to avoid lava after Stromboli eruption.

"Sudden and violent. It's not a particularly active volcano, so that's a surprise."

Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island, said: "We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us.

"The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud."

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she said.

"The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli."

Stromboli, with around 500 residents, is a small island off the north coast of Sicilly.

The round volcano stands 926 m (3,038 ft) above sea level. It last erupted in 2009. </s> A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted dramatically on Wednesday, killing a hiker and sending tourists fleeing into the sea.

The volcano is known to be active but on Wednesday there were two particularly powerful explosions.

"Unfortunately one man is dead, there are a few injured, but none seriously," emergency worker Calogero Foti told RAI television.

The dead man was a 35-year-old from Messina in Sicily who was walking with a Brazilian companion who was found dehydrated and in a state of shock, the AGI news agency reported.

They were walking below the 400 metre altitude limit above which a guide is required.

'Like being in hell'

A navy boat has been sent to the 12 square kilometre island for a possible mass evacuation, with 70 inhabitants and tourists already evacuated.

"It was like being in hell because of the rain of fire coming from the sky," Italian news agencies quoted local priest Giovanni Longo as saying.

He said it was not known if there were any hikers on the volcano at the time of the eruption, which caused fires around the village of Ginostra.

Stromboli is topped by an active volcano which is a magnet for tourists from early spring each year.

Italian media reported that some tourists had fled into the sea after the eruption, while others had barricaded themselves into homes.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said there were two huge explosions on the central-southern side of the volcano's crater at around 3.45pm Wednesday, one of the biggest explosions ever recorded on the island.

The explosions were preceded by lava spills "from all the active mouths of the crater terrace," the INGV said, prompting a two-kilometre high plume of smoke.

"It's been a long time since we had an eruption of this magnitude," former local councillor Gianluca Giuffre told RAI news.

"My experience and of those who have been living here for generations leads us to believe that the situation will calm down again but we must be cautious," he said.

A firefighting plane could not put out fires in the area because of the amount of smoke, Italian media reported.

The INGV said it was monitoring the situation.

A previous massive eruption in December 2002 prompted a tidal wave after magma from a particularly violent eruption cascaded into the sea. Six people were injured.

Piers, boats and some buildings were swept away.

Access to the island was forbidden to outsiders for over a month amid the risk of further landslides and scientists set up electronic observation stations to monitor volcanic activity.

Four-fifths of the island's population of around 500 decided to leave for the Aeolian island administrative centre of Lipari, whose schools have taken on Stromboli's children since the disaster.

Stromboli was made famous in the 1950 film of the same name by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman and is a major tourist attraction with thousands of people visiting its lava-spitting crater each year.

A fresh eruption on Mt Etna, Europe's most active volcano, on Sicily, was also reported on Tuesday. It caused no consequences. </s> Hundreds of people fled Italy’s Stromboli after fatal volcano eruption hit the island, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Thursday.

Mayor Marco Giorgianni told ANSA that the situation “was returning to normal although a swathe of the island around Ginostra was covered with pumice stones”.

Italy’s island of Stromboli hit by a volcano eruption on Wednesday. 35-year-old naval officer Massimo Imbesi died, and tourists dived into the sea out of fear, according to ANSA.

Italy has three active volcanos that erupted in the last hundred years. Mount Etna on Sicily and Stromboli continue to be active. Mount Vesuvius near Naples lastly erupted in 1944.

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ROME - A volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli erupted on Wednesday, releasing hot trapped magma in a powerful explosion, killing one person and enveloping the popular tourist destination in ash, witnesses and local officials said.

The person, believed to be a tourist, was killed by falling stones during a walk, a rescue service official said. A second person was injured.

The unexpected eruption started fires on the western side of the small Mediterranean island, which lies north of Sicily, off the toe of Italy. Fire crews were being called in from nearby locations and a Canadair plane was already in action.

"We saw the explosion from the hotel. There was a loud roar," said Michela Favorito, who works in a hotel near Fico Grande, on the east side of the island.

"We plugged our ears and after this a cloud of ash swept over us. The whole sky is full of ash, a fairly large cloud," she told Reuters.

Fiona Carter, a British tourist on the island of Panarea, some 27 km (17 miles) from Stromboli, heard the blast.

"We turned around to see a mushroom cloud coming from Stromboli. Everyone was in shock. Then red hot lava started running down the mountain towards the little village of Ginostra," she told Reuters.

"The cloud got bigger, white and grey. It enveloped Ginostra and now the cloud has covered Stromboli entirely. Several boats set off for Stromboli," she added.

Stefano Branca, an expert with the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV), said there had been a "paroxysmal eruption" on the island, when high-pressure magma explodes from a shallow, underground reservoir.

"These are events of great intensity and quite rare," he told Reuters.

Tourists often climb to the 924-meter (3,000-foot) summit of the volcano and peer into its crater, with small puffs of molten rock regularly blasted into the sky. It was not clear if anyone was on the crater at the time of the blast.

According to the geology.com website, Stromboli is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet and has been erupting almost continuously since 1932.

The island was the setting for a 1950 movie starring Ingrid Bergman and, with other islands in the Aeolian archipelago, has become a favorite location in recent decades for holiday homes for the rich and famous.

Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>> </s> (London Independent) At least 10 people have been injured after several tourists and a BBC crew were caught up in an eruption at Mount Etna.

A member of the BBC crew said they were caught up in a “huge explosion” along with several tourists on the Italian island of Sicily.

BBC science correspondent Rebecca Morelle tweeted to say the lava flow mixed with steam causing the explosion. </s> Roberto Lo Savio/iStock/Thinkstock(ROME, Italy) — Tourists and reporters were caught in an eruption on Italy’s Mount Etna on Thursday.

BBC science reporter Rebecca Morelle tweeted about the incident, saying that her group had been “pelted by rocks” and had to dodge “burning boulders and boiling steam.” She said about eight people were hurt and some had to be evacuated by rescue teams.

BBC News reports that lava flow mixed with steam to cause the explosion.

Mount Etna is among the more active volcanoes in the world.
One tourist is killed and several injured when Mt. Stromboli in Italy erupts.