Comoros volcano spews lava, residents flee

MORONI, May 28 (Reuters) Lava flowed from a volcano on the Indian Ocean island of Grande Comore today, lighting up the sky and sending scores of residents onto the streets.

Residents of Moroni, the capital of tiny Comoros islands, said they could see lava at the top of Mount Karthala, one of the world's largest active volcanoes.

Karthala last erupted in April 2005, hitting the eastern part of the island. As many as 40,000 residents were affected and thousands were forced to flee in fear of poisonous gas and a possible magma flow.

It was the volcano's first eruption in more than decade on the archipelego nation, 300 km off the coast of east Africa.

The islands have largely escaped major destruction from the volcano, which has erupted every 11 years on average over the last 200 years, but has had several close calls.

In November, Mount Karthala sent clouds of ash and sparks over the island, blanketing the capital Moroni and other villages in grey dust.

The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros covers three small volcanic islands -- Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli -- in the Mozambique channel 300 km northwest of Madagascar.

Reuters VJ RN-148