The spectacular rescue of goats, chickens and rabbits from the lava of La Palma volcano

Before fleeing the eruption of the volcano La Palma, located in the natural park of Cumbre Vieja in the Canary Islands, southwest of Spain, Yahaira García only had time to load a backpack with some essential items, some souvenirs and her animals, among which, in her car. goats, chickens and rabbits.

After a night “so bad, with so many earthquakes”, García did not hesitate and left his home shortly before the start of the eruption.

“Along the way we learned that the volcano had exploded“, He recounted by telephone.

The 34-year-old went there to pick up her parents and all of their animals: “four goats, two pigs, 20 hens, 10 rabbits, four dogs and a turtle“, To put them to safety.

They did it: “I’m nervous, worried, but we’re safe“, He counted.

On this island of nearly 85,000 inhabitants, which combines strong tourism and agriculture, authorities also released footage of law enforcement evacuating goats and other animals in their vans.

The eruption has, for the moment, no casualties, but about 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes, while “a hundred houses” were destroyed by the river of lava which descended on Monday towards the coast .

The lava descended devouring gardens and houses in its path, according to images of relief workers and some neighbors on social networks.

On Saturday, “my house was vibrating too much, it looked like it was going to fall,” says Yahaira, relieved now that she knows her house has remained intact.

“At the end, lava came out the other side», He explained about a result which was not however expected. He was afraid that these “very harsh” images that he had seen of other houses would reproduce in his own. Yet questions remain.

“We have no idea when we will be back,” he said.

“Three minutes”

As she left, Yahaira could see the lava column, that “orange exploding mass” and felt the earth move. And “this noise, when the sea is very bad, with many explosions”.

A sound also described by Miriam Moreno, 39, another resident of Los Llanos: “as if there are planes above, or when the gas stove is on”.

Miriam was not eventually evacuated, but barricaded herself in her house with “emergency backpacks prepared”, as requested by the authorities, “with water, food”.

Through his window, he says he can see the huge plume of smoke and smell “that strange smell” caused by the tons of sulfur dioxide escaping from the volcano.

And she is especially afraid of being trapped on the island, in the middle of toxic gases, if the situation worsens and the airspace closes.

Angie Chaux, who also lives in the town, was not at home when authorities urged neighbors to leave. Passing “a lot of cars, a lot of people”, he arrived near his home at 4:30 am, but the road was closed.

“It was very fast. The police let us in and said ‘you have 3 minutes’, they told us we had to leave now“With her husband and their three-year-old son,” said Chaux.

Chaux, 27, follows the situation on television and realizes that lava is only 700 meters from his house. “I’m nervous because we don’t know what’s gonna happen», He confessed.

Most of the more than 6,000 evacuees do not know when they will be able to return home. New lava flow erupted from the volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma on Saturday, threatening to wreak havoc on the island in the Atlantic Ocean, where more than 1,000 buildings have already been engulfed or severely damaged by streams of molten rock.

The partial collapse of the volcanic cone overnight gave rise to a new lava flow which began to follow a similar path up the Cumbre Vieja ridge towards the west coast of the island, down to the sea..

Authorities said the new lava river is in the area that was hastily evacuated after the September 19 eruption, when 6,000 residents were forced to flee their homes and farms.

Police allowed residents whose homes could now be in danger to take trips to collect what they could. The trucks entered the exclusion zone empty and returned with mattresses, furniture and other personal effects.

Relief official Miguel Ángel Morcuende said experts were closely monitoring the delta for new rocks that were forming off the coast of the island since the main lava river hit the sea last week. He said that some parts could collapse causing explosions and big waves, but this would not pose a danger as the immediate area has already been evacuated.

La Palma airport has resumed operations after being closed for several days due to volcanic ash.

La Palma, home to some 85,000 people, is part of Spain’s Canary Islands, a volcanic archipelago northwest of the African coast.

With information from AFP and AP

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