Thousands more Filipinos displaced as volcano blasts lava and ash

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Residents watch the Mount Mayon volcano as it erupted anew in Daraga, Albay province, south of Manila, Philippines January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

MANILA – The number of people displaced by an erupting Philippine volcano soared to more than 61,000 by Wednesday, the Southeast Asian country's disaster agency said, as Mount Mayon ejected lava that produced an ash plume 3 miles high.

The alert remains just one notch below the highest level of 5 after five more episodes of "intense but sporadic lava fountaining" from the summit crater over a 19-hour period starting Tuesday morning, state volcanologists said.

Lava fountains up to 2,000 feet high lasted from minutes to more than an hour and generated ash plumes 3 miles above the crater, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Schools were shut in 17 cities and municipalities in Albay and nearby Camarines Sur province, which was also affected by ashfall. Scores of flights were canceled because of Mayon, the Philippines' most active and most picturesque volcano.

There were 55,068 residents in temporary shelters, a substantial increase from about 40,000 on Monday. Some 6,165 evacuees were staying elsewhere.

The number of displaced increased after the provincial government expanded the danger zone around the 8,077-foot volcano to a radius of 5 miles.

Mayon's sporadic eruption, which began Jan. 13, has affected 54 villages in Albay, with a combined population of 71,373 people.