Over 20,000 people displaced after volcanic activity on St. Vincent

by Olafimihan Oshin - 04/14/21 6:39 PM ET

st. vincent La Soufriere volcano eruption island caribbean plume ash smoke evacuations — ZEN PUNNETT / Zen Punnett / AFP
This April 9, 2021, image courtesy Zen Punnett shows the eruption of La Soufriere Volcano from Rillan Hill in Saint Vincent. – La Soufriere erupted Friday for the first time in 40 years on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, prompting thousands of people to evacuate, seismologists said. The blast from the volcano, sent plumes…

Eruptions from the La Soufriere volcano caused over 20,000 people to be displaced, including 4,000 people living in shelters around the island, NBC News reported.

The eruptions began on Friday, with ash spreading throughout Caribbean island and reaching the neighborhood islands of Barbados and Grenadines.

In a Facebook post, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) said that “explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days.”

During a press conference Wednesday Didier Trebucq, the U.N. Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said, “We are facing a situation with a great deal of uncertainty and also a humanitarian crisis that is growing and may continue for weeks and months.”

The U.S embassy in Barbados is working with the Royal Caribbean Cruises for a maritime evacuation of U.S. citizens from St. Vincent to St. Martin Friday.

Tags Barbados Volcano