Johannesburg - One of the world's most active volcanoes on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion has been spewing rivers of boiling lava for days in one of its most spectacular eruption in decades, reports said Thursday. The Piton de la Fournaise (Mountain of the Furnace) has already erupted twice this year but this latest eruption, which began on Monday, has intensified at times instead of diminishing, worrying the local seismic observatory, according to a newspaper on nearby Madagascar.
L'Express de Madagascar quoted a seismologist on La Reunion as saying that the latest activity may be creating more cracks lower down the volcano, which would allow the molten lava to spread further.
The steaming torrent of lava had cut off roads and damaged homes on its way to the sea, clicanoo.com local news website said.
About 50 children had been taken to hospital after breathing in sulphur fumes, the site said.
La Reunion, a French territory, has a population of about 800,000 people and is situated between Madagascar and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
The volcano is believed to be 530,000 years old.
