Mount etna erupts: Catania airport closed, red alert on Stromboli

Due to Mount Etna's activity on Friday in Sicily, the airport in Catania, one of the main airports on the island, was closed. A red alert is also in effect on the island of Stromboli, also due to volcanic activity.

The company managing Catania Airport reported that the closure was necessary due to volcanic ash in the air. Early on Saturday morning, flights were resumed.

The Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reported that the volcanic activity, which began on Thursday evening, subsided early in the morning.

The mayor of the Sicilian city, Enrico Trantino, introduced a ban on using two-wheeled vehicles and limited the allowable speed of cars to 32 kilometres per hour due to the ash on the streets. The cloud reached Syracuse.

A red alert is also in effect on the island of Stromboli, formed by an active volcano in the archipelago of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Civil Protection has appealed to several hundred residents and tourists to monitor the situation due to the volcanic activity.

- The volcano is under special surveillance - stated the Minister of Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci. He added that plans for the possible evacuation of the population are being reviewed.