LOOK: Two dead as more than 82 000 people flee erupting Taal Volcano

Taal volcano continues to spew ash as seen from Tagaytay, Cavite province, southern Philippines. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

Taal volcano continues to spew ash as seen from Tagaytay, Cavite province, southern Philippines. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

Published Jan 15, 2020

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Manila - Two people have died from heart attack while fleeing

from an erupting volcano near the Philippine capital of Manila, which

has displaced more than 82 000 people, officials said on Wednesday.

Taal Volcano in Batangas province, which is 66 kilometres south of

Manila and located in the middle of a lake of the same name, started

sporadically expelling ash on Sunday.

The victims were a 65-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man from the

towns of Talisay and Taal in Batangas, the provincial disaster risk

reduction office said.

The woman suffered cardiac arrest on Monday, while the man died on

Tuesday, the office added.

Police earlier said that a truck driver died on Monday in nearby

Laguna province when he lost control of his vehicle due to lack of

visibility caused by heavy ash fall from Taal Volcano's eruption.

A policewoman blocks a resident from entering a village near Taal Volcano where authorities enforced a total evacuation in Talisay, Batangas province, southern Philippines. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

Residents were evacuated from towns in Batangas and the nearby

province of Cavite, but some men stayed behind to watch over their

properties and livestock.

Emergency teams, including police and soldiers, were deployed on

Wednesday to make sure that everyone has left from high-risk areas,

amid reports that some people have shunned official advice and

returned home after staying in cramped evacuation centres.

"We need to enforce the evacuation order and to discourage people

from coming back because it is very dangerous," said Mark Leviste,

vice governor of Batangas provinces.

A resident fetches water at their volcanic ash-covered village in Laurel, Batangas province, southern Philippines, as Taal Volcano continues to spew ash. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

"The ash fall from the eruption is very thick and some areas now look

like deserts or ghost towns," he added.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs)

said it had monitored "continuous but generally weaker eruption of

the main crater due to magmatic and hydrovolcanic processes" in the

Taal Volcano over the past 24 hours.

But the institute noted that huge road cracks and ground deformation

in towns surrounding the volcano, hundreds of volcanic earthquakes

and high sulphur dioxide emissions signified continuous magmatic

movement that may lead to more eruptive events.

Men carry piglets which they rescued across the lake in Talisay, Batangas province, southern Philippines, as Taal Volcano continues to spew ash. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

Phivolcs reiterated its recommendation for the total evacuation of

the island and high-risk areas.

"Alert level 4 still remains in effect over Taal Volcano," Phivolcs

said in its latest bulletin. "This means that hazardous explosive

eruption is possible within hours to days."

Residents clean their roofs from volcanic ash in Laurel, Batangas province, southern Philippines, as Taal Volcano continues to spew ash. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

"Phivolcs strongly reiterates total evacuation of Taal Volcano Island

and high-risk areas... within the 14-kilometre radius from Taal main

crater," it added.

Residents chat beside a damaged structure in Laurel, Batangas province, southern Philippines, as Taal Volcano continues to spew ash. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

Taal Volcano, the second most active volcano in the Philippines, has

erupted 33 times since 1572. Its last eruption was in October 1977,

but it showed signs of unrest between 2008 and 2011, as well as in

2019.

Men recover items on Taal Volcano island as it continues to spew ash in Talisay, Batangas province, southern Philippines. Picture: Basilio Sepe/AP

DPA

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