A volcano erupted on Friday on a remote island in the Indian Ocean, not far from where wreckage suspected to be part of the plane from missing Malaysian flight MH370 was found, reportedly hampering work of investigators examining the debris.
Mesmerizing video and breathtaking photos taken from a bird's eye view have captured the eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano in the southeastern part of Reunion Island.
#volcano #PitondelaFournaise new eruption started today, spectacular vieuw from Piton Partage point of view pic.twitter.com/JAJX3guEVr
โ CultureVolcan (@CultureVolcan) July 31, 2015
The eruption prompted an emergency evacuation on Friday. Piton de la Fournaise is a World Heritage Site and is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
The eruption comes soon after debris suspected to belong to the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight was found by beachcombers on Wednesday. Media reports said that a team of Malaysian aviation experts examining the debris was forced to evacuate the site.
Eruption du Piton de la Fournaise : un beau panache de fumรฉe visible depuis le Tampon http://t.co/8nIEFX3ujK pic.twitter.com/A753RuwNHd
โ Imaz Press Rรฉunion (@Ipreunion) July 31, 2015
Meanwhile on Thursday, Malaysian official confirmed that the number on the aircraft part found on Reunion Island belongs to a Boeing 777. However, so far there has been no confirmation that it belongs to the flight MH370 plane.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board shortly after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur when it deviated from its planned route to Beijing.
The first images of the new #eruption at #PitondelaFournaise #volcano #ReunionIsland
Photos by Guillaume Cazarre pic.twitter.com/6oDcuXPC9V
โ Roberto C. Lopez (@Bromotengger) July 31, 2015
The island of Reunion is a French territory and the suspected plane part is being sent to Toulouse in France to be inspected at Europe's leading center for analyzing aircraft wreckage, which is operated by the French Ministry of Defense.
The #crater of #PitondelaFournaise #volcano spewing ashes #ReunionIsland Photo by Richard Bouhet pic.twitter.com/8CIZlW5m7M
โ Roberto C. Lopez (@Bromotengger) July 30, 2015
Comment: Has there been an increase in volcanic activity recently? Actually, the number of volcanoes erupting right now is greater than the 20th century's YEARLY average!
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