Comoros volcano spews lava, residents flee

MORONI - Lava spewed from a volcano on the Indian Ocean island of Grande Comore today, lighting up the sky and sending scores of frightened residents onto the streets.

Residents of Moroni, the capital of the Comoros islands, said they could see lava at the top of 2361-metre Mount Karthala, one of the world's largest active volcanoes.

Karthala last erupted in April 2005, affecting as many as 40,000 residents and forcing thousands 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 archipelago nation, 300km off the coast of east Africa.

The majestic crag and its fertile slopes covered in vanilla vine plantations form most of Grande Comore, the main island in the Comoros chain.

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. Moroni is about 15km from Karthala's crater.

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

- REUTERS