Volcano eruption: 5 dead, more than 12 injured

Manila, May 7: Mayon

, one of the most active volcanoes of

, spewed large rocks and ashes Tuesday, killing over five climbers and trapping more than a dozen others near the crater in its first eruption in three years, officials said.

Clouds have cleared over the volcano, which was quiet later in the morning. According to Huffington Post, rescue teams and helicopters were sent to Mayon volcano in the central Philippines to bring out the dead. At least seven were injured from a group of about 20 mountaineers who were caught by surprise by the sudden eruption, said Albay provincial Gov. Joey Salceda.

The guide Kenneth Jesalva told ABS-CBN TV network that the climbers who died were struck by huge rocks. They included a German, an Austrian and a Filipino. The injured included foreigners and Filipino guides out of which, some were in critical condition, said the chief of the national disaster agency, Eduardo del Rosario to Huffington Post.

Jesalva said he was in the group that spent the night on the picturesque mountain, known for its almost-perfect cone, when the volcano rumbled back to life early in the morning and rocks as big as a living room came raining down on them. He rushed back to the base camp to call for help.

The head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Renato Solidum, said the eruption was normal for the restive Mayon, about 340 kilometers southeast of Manila. It has erupted about 40 times during the last 400 years.

In 2010, when the volcano errupted, thousands of residents were moved to temporary shelters as the volcano ejected ashes in an 8-kilometer zone surrounding the crater.

Solidum said that no alert was raised for the volcano following the latest eruption and no evacuation was being planned.

OneIndia News