Desolate images from Taal Volcano show horses and cows buried in ash - CNN

Ignoring government warnings to keep away, a number of residents who lived by the foot of the volcano have gone back to tend or rescue their animals.

Stark pictures show pigs, horses, cows, and birds -- their hair, fur and feathers coated with thick ash -- being carried to relative safety, while Taal Volcano, the second most active in the Philippines, smoulders in the background.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said Wednesday morning that the volcano remains at alert level four out of a possible five, meaning an "explosive eruption is possible within hours to days."

The volcano, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the capital Manila on the island of Luzon, began erupting on Sunday, sending ash up to nine miles (14 kilometers) into the air and prompting large-scale evacuations.

Mirra Lipaopao, 27, said she didn't hear the rumblings of the volcano but at around 5 p.m. saw the mud and charcoal-like matter rain down.

"I panicked," she told CNN from a gymnasium that has been turned into an evacuation center in Tanauan. "I grabbed my partner and kid to get out of the house and we just ran as far as we could."

Lipaopao said they went back to their home on Monday and found it was covered in ash and mud. They began cleaning but successive tremors jolted the ground so they returned to the shelter.

Three days after the eruption began, volcanic activity around Taal is ongoing. Fountains of lava generate dark gray, steam-laden plumes up to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) high. Fissures or cracks have opened up in several areas and 466 earthquakes have been recorded since Sunday. Volcanologists warn that further eruptions are possible.

"These new strong, continuous earthquakes that we are now experiencing are due to fissuring, which means that there really is magma that is still making its way out of Taal," Mariton Bornas, chief of volcano monitoring and eruption at PHIVOLCS said on Tuesday.

Those still within or returning to the immediate dangerous zone within a 14-kilometer (8.7 miles) radius around the volcano risk tremors, fissures and the threat of a sudden pyroclastic flow.

"As soon as you have lava being erupted into the system, it just takes some water infiltrating to create an explosive system. Or for the later magma to be more gas-charged that it is currently," said David Phillips, head of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Other hazards include potential mudslides caused by rain washing piles of unconsolidated ash and the threat of the volcano's slopes slumping into the lake, which could cause a tsunami.

"There is any number of hazards associated with volcanoes. The risk of any one of those might be fairly low but it has shown significant activity lately -- so it's time for caution," said Phillips.

Almost half a million people live within the 14 kilometer (8.7 miles) dangerous zone and PHIVOLCS has requested a "total evacuation" of everyone in this area, and issued advisory warnings for those in a larger area of 17 kilometers (10.6 miles).

Around 44,000 people from Batangas and Cavite provinces have sought shelter in 217 temporary evacuation centers set up by authorities. The total number of evacuees could be higher, with some choosing to stay with family members and relatives in other parts of the country.

Some towns, such as Talisay on the banks of Lake Taal, have been placed under lock down by police and fire services, and evacuations are being enforced, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Mark Timbal.

"The advice to people who are trying to go back is to follow the call of the government and the agencies, and that is to avoid going back," Timbal said.

One big concern for those in the vicinity is the potential health risks of breathing in the toxic volcanic ash -- which carries microscopic shards of glass -- that has blanketed everything in sight.

"(The shards of glass) are hazardous to lungs," said Joseph Michalski, director of the Earth and Planetary Science division at the University of Hong Kong. "You don't want stuff like that in your lungs. It can get lodged in there and make you quite ill."

International aid group Save the Children said in a statement that small children in evacuation centers were suffering from respiratory illnesses such as colds and coughs.

In the city of Tanauan about 730 people are staying in a gymnasium that has been converted into an evacuation center. Families are living in cramped conditions and sleeping on the hard floor.

The sudden eruption on Sunday caught people off guard and many families fled wearing the clothes they were in and carried little to no possessions.

Because of the ongoing threat of another, bigger eruption, no one knows when they will be able to return home or what they will find when they get there.

Many of their livelihoods have been destroyed.

Timbal said that activity had been recorded at the volcano as early as March last year and that residents and local government units were aware that "a state of preparedness" was in place. But "the speed of escalation was unexpected," he said.

Some locals living on or near the volcano, many of them poor laborers or farmers, made money from offering horse rides to tourists. Others built their livelihoods farming the fertile soils that are associated with many volcanoes or fishing tawilis or "live sardines" only found in Batangas province.

The volcano is surrounded by a lake, which is a popular attraction and many of the towns in the vicinity are tourism hot spots. There are several amusement parks, lakeside resorts and yacht clubs nearby.

The holiday town of Tagaytay, which lies close to the water's edge, is a popular getaway for Manila residents who often take boats onto the lake and hike up the volcano.

"Many of these landscapes are very beautiful and people want to go visit them," said Phillips. "It's beautiful but it's also potentially deadly -- it's that fatal attraction."

CNN's Yasmin Coles contributed to reporting from Manila, Philippines.

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2020-01-15 10:02:00Z
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Desolate images from Taal Volcano show horses and cows buried in ash - CNN

Ignoring government warnings to keep away, a number of residents who lived by the foot of the volcano have gone back to tend or rescue their animals.

Stark pictures show pigs, horses, cows, and birds -- their hair, fur and feathers coated with thick ash -- being carried to relative safety, while Taal Volcano, the second most active in the Philippines, smoulders in the background.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said Wednesday morning that the volcano remains at alert level four out of a possible five, meaning an "explosive eruption is possible within hours to days."

The volcano, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the capital Manila on the island of Luzon, began erupting on Sunday, sending ash up to nine miles (14 kilometers) into the air and prompting large-scale evacuations.

Mirra Lipaopao, 27, said she didn't hear the rumblings of the volcano but at around 5 p.m. saw the mud and charcoal-like matter rain down.

"I panicked," she told CNN from a gymnasium that has been turned into an evacuation center in Tanauan. "I grabbed my partner and kid to get out of the house and we just ran as far as we could."

Lipaopao said they went back to their home on Monday and found it was covered in ash and mud. They began cleaning but successive tremors jolted the ground so they returned to the shelter.

Three days after the eruption began, volcanic activity around Taal is ongoing. Fountains of lava generate dark gray, steam-laden plumes up to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) high. Fissures or cracks have opened up in several areas and 466 earthquakes have been recorded since Sunday. Volcanologists warn that further eruptions are possible.

"These new strong, continuous earthquakes that we are now experiencing are due to fissuring, which means that there really is magma that is still making its way out of Taal," Mariton Bornas, chief of volcano monitoring and eruption at PHIVOLCS said on Tuesday.

Those still within or returning to the immediate dangerous zone within a 14-kilometer (8.7 miles) radius around the volcano risk tremors, fissures and the threat of a sudden pyroclastic flow.

"As soon as you have lava being erupted into the system, it just takes some water infiltrating to create an explosive system. Or for the later magma to be more gas-charged that it is currently," said David Phillips, head of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Other hazards include potential mudslides caused by rain washing piles of unconsolidated ash and the threat of the volcano's slopes slumping into the lake, which could cause a tsunami.

"There is any number of hazards associated with volcanoes. The risk of any one of those might be fairly low but it has shown significant activity lately -- so it's time for caution," said Phillips.

Almost half a million people live within the 14 kilometer (8.7 miles) dangerous zone and PHIVOLCS has requested a "total evacuation" of everyone in this area, and issued advisory warnings for those in a larger area of 17 kilometers (10.6 miles).

Around 44,000 people from Batangas and Cavite provinces have sought shelter in 217 temporary evacuation centers set up by authorities. The total number of evacuees could be higher, with some choosing to stay with family members and relatives in other parts of the country.

Some towns, such as Talisay on the banks of Lake Taal, have been placed under lock down by police and fire services, and evacuations are being enforced, according to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) spokesperson Mark Timbal.

"The advice to people who are trying to go back is to follow the call of the government and the agencies, and that is to avoid going back," Timbal said.

One big concern for those in the vicinity is the potential health risks of breathing in the toxic volcanic ash -- which carries microscopic shards of glass -- that has blanketed everything in sight.

"(The shards of glass) are hazardous to lungs," said Joseph Michalski, director of the Earth and Planetary Science division at the University of Hong Kong. "You don't want stuff like that in your lungs. It can get lodged in there and make you quite ill."

International aid group Save the Children said in a statement that small children in evacuation centers were suffering from respiratory illnesses such as colds and coughs.

In the city of Tanauan about 730 people are staying in a gymnasium that has been converted into an evacuation center. Families are living in cramped conditions and sleeping on the hard floor.

The sudden eruption on Sunday caught people off guard and many families fled wearing the clothes they were in and carried little to no possessions.

Because of the ongoing threat of another, bigger eruption, no one knows when they will be able to return home or what they will find when they get there.

Many of their livelihoods have been destroyed.

Timbal said that activity had been recorded at the volcano as early as March last year and that residents and local government units were aware that "a state of preparedness" was in place. But "the speed of escalation was unexpected," he said.

Some locals living on or near the volcano, many of them poor laborers or farmers, made money from offering horse rides to tourists. Others built their livelihoods farming the fertile soils that are associated with many volcanoes or fishing tawilis or "live sardines" only found in Batangas province.

The volcano is surrounded by a lake, which is a popular attraction and many of the towns in the vicinity are tourism hot spots. There are several amusement parks, lakeside resorts and yacht clubs nearby.

The holiday town of Tagaytay, which lies close to the water's edge, is a popular getaway for Manila residents who often take boats onto the lake and hike up the volcano.

"Many of these landscapes are very beautiful and people want to go visit them," said Phillips. "It's beautiful but it's also potentially deadly -- it's that fatal attraction."

CNN's Yasmin Coles contributed to reporting from Manila, Philippines.

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2020-01-15 07:53:00Z
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Iran announces arrests over plane crash as Rouhani warns those responsible will be punished - CNN

Gholamhossein Esmaili, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, was quoted by the semi-official FARS news agency Tuesday as saying that an investigation into the crash had started and several arrests had been made. He did not provide details on how many people had been arrested or what their roles in the incident may have been.

Speaking in Tehran on Tuesday, Rouhani called for the punishment of those behind the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752.

He said a special court with "a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts" should be established in order to investigate the incident. "This is not an ordinary case and all of world is looking at us," Rouhani said.

"I announce that we will do the follow up in order to detect all aspects of the event and punishing those responsible," the Iranian leader added.

After three days of denials, Iran admitted on Saturday that its military had mistakenly shot down the plane.

The admission sparked another wave of anti-government protests in Iran and appeared to expose a rift within the country's leadership.

While Tehran has rejected allegations that it tried to cover up the shooting down of the plane, the editor in chief of right-wing Tasnim news agency -- which is tied to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps -- criticized Iran's leaders for attempting to lie to the public.

Around 30 people have been arrested for taking part in the latest round of protests, according to Esmaili, who described them Tuesday as illegal rallies that had put national security at risk.

"The government is accountable and we will fulfill our legal responsibilities but most importantly the people should be assured that such an event should not take place again," Rouhani said, expressing sympathies for the families of the victims. He added that the public deserved to know the details about the cause of the crash.

Iran's main insurance agency said the damages that should be paid for the crash could amount to $150 million, Iran's Press TV reported Monday.

All 176 people on board were killed when the Kiev-bound flight was shot down shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital early last Wednesday.

The passengers and crew included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals, according to a tweet from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko.

Leaders of the countries whose citizens were killed also called for those responsible to be held accountable.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would ensure that "a full, transparent investigation is conducted."

"I want to assure all families and all Canadians -- we will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability," Trudeau said at a vigil on Sunday.

The plane crash came shortly after Iran launched strikes on Iraqi bases housing US troops. Those strikes were retaliation after the US killed a top Iranian general on January 3.

Iran initially blamed a technical failure for the disaster. But as evidence mounted and western intelligence agencies started pointing fingers at Tehran, the government conceded the aircraft was shot down in an error.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed "human error" prompted by "US adventurism," alluding to the escalating brinkmanship between Iran and the United States over the US killing of a revered Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani.

Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported Tuesday that Tehran is planning to file a criminal case against the US army, government and President Donald Trump in the international criminal court over Soleimani's death. According to Tasnim, Gholam Hossein Esmaeili, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, said that "there is no doubt that US military action was an act of terrorism."

"Trump personally has confessed ordering this criminal act and that is the strongest evidence that a court could have," Esmaeili said, according to the news agency.

Speaking at a news conference, Esmaeili also reportedly said the British ambassador to Tehran should be expelled from the country. It was unclear whether he was sharing his own opinion or if the Iranian government was moving ahead with the expulsion of ambassador Rob Macair.

Macair was briefly arrested in the middle of a crowd of protesters on Saturday in what the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab then called a "flagrant violation of international law."

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2020-01-14 11:51:00Z
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Iran says arrests made after downing of Ukrainian plane that killed 176 on board - The Washington Post

Atta Kenare Afp Via Getty Images An Iranian cleric walks past a poster honoring the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet accidentally shot down in the capital last week, Jan 13, 2020.

ISTANBUL — Iran said Tuesday that arrests had been made in the downing of a Ukrainian plane that Tehran admitted was mistakenly intercepted, as the president called for a special court to investigate the crash that set off days of anti-government protests.

Gholamhossein Esmaili, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, said Tuesday that “some individuals” had been arrested over the past three days after “extensive investigations,” but did not provide any detail about the identities of the suspects or say how many people had been detained.

The downing of the plane, which killed all 176 on board, last week occurred during a hair-trigger standoff between the United States and Iran, after a U.S. drone strike killed Iran’s powerful Quds Force commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, earlier this month.

Tehran retaliated against the United States last Wednesday, firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at facilities in Iraq hosting U.S. troops.

[Iranians are furious at their regime. But Trump still bans them.]

In the hours after those attacks, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 with a surface-to-air missile, a move it blamed on “human error.” Listed among the dead were 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians, including the crew. Most, if not all, of the Canadians were reported to be of Iranian origin or dual nationals.

Iranian officials initially denied reports that the plane was brought down but on Saturday admitted that the Revolutionary Guard, which maintains military bases in the area of the crash, had shot it down by mistake.

Over the next few days, protests flared on the streets of Tehran and other cities, led by students criticizing the missile strike and chanting rare denunciations of Iran’s leadership, forcing the government on the defensive.

In a speech on Tuesday, President Hassan Rouhani addressed the crash at length, calling for a special court “with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts” to investigate. “This is not a normal case and the whole world will follow the case in our court,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks posted on his official website.

“Our people know that this accident was the result of an error and mistake, but who was involved and what circumstances led to the accident?” he said, directing blame in part at the United States, who he said had “inflamed the atmosphere and made the situation abnormal, threatened and took our loved ones from us.”

“All of this is true, but it does not mean that we should not address all the root causes of the incident,” he added. “It is not just the one who pressed the button, but rather there are others, and I want this matter to be explained to people honestly.” Rouhani also appeared to fault military leaders for waiting days to announce that the plane had been shot down, and urged the authorities “to explain to the public the whole process.”

Read more

Iranians protest for third day over downed airliner amid reports of gunfire by security forces

‘Four embassies’: The anatomy of Trump’s unfounded claim about Iran

U.S. commanders at al-Asad base believe Iranian missile barrage was designed to kill

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2020-01-14 11:09:00Z
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Residents urged not to return home as Philippines volcano continues to spew ash, lava fountains - CNN

The Taal Volcano, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the capital Manila on the island of Luzon, began erupting on Sunday, sending ash up to nine miles (14 kilometers) into the air and prompting warnings of a possible "explosive eruption" and large-scale evacuations.

As of Tuesday, almost 20,000 people from Batangas and Cavite provinces have sought shelter in 118 temporary evacuation centers set up by authorities. The total number of evacuees is likely to be higher, with some choosing to stay with family members and relatives in other parts of the country.

Officials, however, said a number of residents were beginning to return to their homes close to the volcano to tend farms, livestock or fetch personal belongings.

Many people depend on the lake and land around the volcano for their livelihood. Their dilemma is whether to risk their lives by returning or their primary sources of income by staying in a shelter for an unknown period of time.

"If you were this person and think 'well all I know for sure is I have three cows, seven goats and some soy beans and I don't go back and take care of them, I know I'm screwed,' than someone telling you to stay away for two weeks and maybe nothing happens -- you're in trouble anyway," said Joseph Michalski, director of the Earth and Planetary Science division at the University of Hong Kong.

There are two concentric zones of concern around the volcano. Around 459,000 people reside within a dangerous zone within a 14-kilometer (8.6 miles) radius around the volcano, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), while more than 930,000 people live in a wider 17-kilometer (10.5 miles) danger zone.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has requested a "total evacuation" of everyone within the larger 17-kilometer (10.5 miles) radius around the volcano.

Mariton Bornas, chief of volcano monitoring and eruption at PHIVOLCS said residents within the immediate radius would be at risk of tremors, fissures and the threat of a sudden pyroclastic flow.

The institute recorded 335 earthquakes in the area of the volcano since Sunday and said more activity is expected in the next few days.

"These new strong, continuous earthquakes that we are now experiencing are due to fissuring, which means that there really is magma that is still making its way out of Taal," Bornas said.

"PHIVOCS strongly reiterates the need for the evacuation of Volcano Island, Taal Lake and the high-risk areas surrounding the volcano ... located within the immediate 14-kilometer radius from the main crater," she continued.

Eruption difficult to predict

Activity at the volcano continued through Tuesday. Lava fountains generated dark gray steam-laden plumes that reached 800 meters (2,624 feet) high, according to the institute. Volcanic lightening was also visible.

PHIVOLCS said that new vents had opened up on the volcano's northern flank and fresh ashfall had landed on nearby towns.

Photos from the eruption show ash mixing with rain, creating a thick black sludge that blanketed cars, streets, and homes in some towns. Ash is even heavier than snow, meaning excessive pile-ups, especially when mixed with rain, can cause roofs to collapse.

In a briefing with the media on Tuesday, PHIVOLCS director Renato Solidum said they cannot definitively tell when the eruptions will stop.

The alert level for the volcano remains at four, meaning an "explosive eruption" could happen in the coming hours or days. Its highest alert level is five, indicating an eruption is taking place.

But predicting what will happen, or when, is fraught with difficulty. When the Taal Volcano erupted in 1754 it lasted six months. The deadliest eruption took 1,335 lives in 1911, and it lasted a few days.

"There is no smoking gun or mathematic indicator of if a volcano erupts or when," said Michalski of Hong Kong University.

Signals that eruptions are imminent or that there is activity going on include the frequency, location and depth of earthquakes, the water temperature of the lake increasing, and gas released from cracks or fissures.

"All these things, these activity increases, tell you that -- man, I'm getting out of here. Something is happening. But none of this says exactly what will happen in exactly what time frame," Michalski continued.

Ghost towns filled with ash

Federal authorities are helping the response and evacuation operation. The army sent 20 military vehicles and 120 personnel to help affected residents, and the secretary of national defense said helicopters were on standby to evacuate people.

Aid organizations like the Red Cross are assisting on the ground by sending rescue vehicles and supplies.

Richard Gordon, Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross said evacuated areas look like "ghost towns" with houses "filled with ash."

"There's been some rain, many have collapsed already," Gordon said. "If you live in the area you'd probably be terrified."

In Batangas and Cavite towns, power is down due to heavy ash collecting on the electricity lines and there is no fresh water, Gordon said.

Evacuation centers include basketball courts, gyms and schools and are not designed for large-scale evacuations.

Red Cross teams on the ground are working to provide water tankers, ambulances, hot meal vans, and masks, as well as providing psychological support and setting up 70-bed wards in heavily affected areas to care for people with respiratory problems caused by the ash.

"The situation there is very dusty, and certainly it gets into your lungs and can create long-term damage," said Gordon. "We are advising people to close their windows with a damp cloth. People with respiratory illness or cardiovascular problems, they should move far away from the volcano to Manila or other provinces."

The ash fall has also damaged crops in the area such as corn and coffee, and continues to threaten fish stocks, said Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Batangas province supplies Metro Manila with 40% of its harvest of fish, including tawilis or "live sardines" only found in the province.

A potential eruption could also bring long-term consequences for the area's economy.

The volcano is surrounded by a lake, which is a popular attraction -- meaning many of the towns in the vicinity are tourism hot spots. There are several amusement parks, lakeside resorts and yacht clubs within the 17-kilometer zone.

The holiday town of Tagaytay, which lies close to the water's edge, is a popular getaway for Manila residents who often take boats onto the lake and hike up the volcano.

On Sunday, the volcanic ash spread as far as Quezon City north of Manila, prompting the suspension of all flights at the capital's international airport. By Tuesday, normal operations resumed, according to the airport's general manager Ed Monreal, though it's possible flights may be suspended again if Taal's activity increases.

The airport remains congested with people trying to get on flights, Monreal added.

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2020-01-14 10:49:00Z
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Iran announces first arrests in downing of Ukrainian airliner - Al Jazeera English

Iran's judiciary has announced the arrests of an unspecified number of suspects in the accidental downing of a commercial passenger jet during a major confrontation with the United States last week.

In comments carried by state media, spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on Tuesday that "extensive investigations have taken place and some individuals are arrested". He did not offer additional details.

More:

Wednesday's downing of the Ukrainian airliner, en route to Kyiv from Tehran, killed all 176 passengers and crew on board. It happened just hours after Iran launched missile attacks on US targets in Iraq in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3.

After days of denials, Iran on Saturday admitted that its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had shot down the plane in a "disastrous mistake", saying air defences were fired in error while on alert after the attacks against two Iraqi bases hosting US troops. US President Donald Trump had previously threatened to strike 52 targets within Iran if Tehran targeted US citizens or assets following Soleimani's killing.

Iran's acknowledgement of the shootdown and the lack of transparency around it triggered protests in Tehran and elsewhere, with hundreds of people taking to the streets to direct their ire towards senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, amid allegations of being misled.

Videos posted on social media that could not be verified immediately appeared to show security forces firing live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters. The government has denied a cover-up and police rejected reports that it had opened fire at demonstrators.

Rouhani calls for special court

In a televised address on Tuesday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani promised a thorough investigation into the "unforgivable error" of shooting down the plane, the latest in a series of apologies from a leadership grappling with public anger.

Rouhani called for a special court to be set up with a ranking judge and dozens of experts to investigate the "tragic event".

"This is not an ordinary case. The entire world will be watching this court," Rouhani said, adding that everyone responsible in the accident must be punished.

"For our people, it is very important in this incident that whoever was at fault or negligent at any level" faces justice, Rouhani said. "Anyone who should be punished must be punished."

The president called the government's admission that Iranian forces shot down the plane the "first good step".

"We should assure people that it will not happen again," Rouhani said, adding that his government was "accountable to Iranian and other nations who lost lives in the plane crash".

Al Jazeera's Assed Baig, reporting from Tehran, said Rouhani's comments were "a watershed moment in this country because people aren't used to the military and state institutions taking state responsibility and accepting that they are wrong".

Baig added that Rouhani mentioned that the downing of the plane was not the fault of just one person operating the air defence system - rather, there were many issues involved.

"He also said that ultimately it's the US that's responsible for the heightened level of tension, again referring to Trump's threat to target 52 sites but added that this isn't an excuse for the military and other people," Baig said.

Most of those on board the flight were Iranians or dual nationals. Canada, Ukraine, Britain and other nations who had citizens on the plane have scheduled a meeting on Thursday in London to consider legal action against Tehran.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2020-01-14 09:49:00Z
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Residents urged not to return home as Philippines volcano continues to spew ash, lava fountains - CNN

The Taal Volcano, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the capital Manila on the island of Luzon, began erupting on Sunday, sending ash up to nine miles (14 kilometers) into the air and prompting warnings of a possible "explosive eruption" and large-scale evacuations.

As of Tuesday, almost 20,000 people from Batangas and Cavite provinces have sought shelter in 118 temporary evacuation centers set up by the authorities. But officials said some people were returning to their homes close to the volcano to tend farms, livestock or fetch personal belongings.

Many people depend on the lake and land around the volcano for their livelihood. Their dilemma is whether to risk their lives by returning or their livelihoods by staying in a shelter for an unknown period of time.

"If you were this person and think 'well all I know for sure is I have three cows, seven goats and some soy beans and I don't go back and take care of them, I know I'm screwed,' than someone telling you to stay away for two weeks and maybe nothing happens -- you're in trouble anyway," said Joseph Michalski, director of the Earth and Planetary Science division at the University of Hong Kong.

There are two concentric zones of concern around the volcano. Around 459,000 people reside within a dangerous zone with a 14-kilometer (8.6 miles) radius around the volcano, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), while more than 930,000 people live in a wider 17-kilometer (10.5 miles) danger zone.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has requested a "total evacuation" of everyone within the larger 17-kilometer (10.5 miles) radius around the volcano.

Mariton Bornas, chief of volcano monitoring and eruption at PHIVOLCS said residents within the immediate radius would be at risk of tremors, fissures and the threat of a sudden pyroclastic flow.

The institute recorded 335 earthquakes in the area of the volcano since Sunday and said more activity is expected in the next few days.

"These new strong, continuous earthquakes that we are now experiencing are due to fissuring, which means that there really is magma that is still making its way out of Taal," Bornas said.

"PHIVOCS strongly reiterates the need for the evacuation of Volcano Island, Taal Lake and the high-risk areas surrounding the volcano ... located within the immediate 14 kilometer radius from the main crater," she continued.

Eruption difficult to predict

Activity at the volcano continued through Tuesday. Lava fountains generated dark gray steam-laden plumes that reached 800 meters (2624 feet) high, according to the institute. Volcanic lightening was also visible.

PHIVOLCS said that new vents had opened up on the volcano's northern flank and fresh ashfall had landed on nearby towns.

Photos from the eruption show ash mixing with rain, creating a thick black sludge that blanketed cars, streets, and homes in some towns. Ash is even heavier than snow, meaning excessive pile-ups, especially when mixed with rain, can cause roofs to collapse.

In a briefing with the media on Tuesday, Director of PHIVOLCS Renato Solidum said they cannot definitively tell when the eruptions will stop.

The alert level for the volcano remains at four, meaning an "explosive eruption" could happen in the coming hours or days. Its highest alert level is five, indicating an eruption is taking place.

But predicting what will happen, or when, is fraught with difficulty. When the Taal Volcano erupted in 1754 it lasted six months. The deadliest eruption took 1,335 lives in 1911, and it lasted a few days.

"There is no smoking gun or mathematic indicator of if a volcano erupts or when," said Michalski of Hong Kong University.

Signals that eruptions are imminent or that there is activity going on include the frequency, location and depth of earthquakes, the water temperature of the lake increasing, and gas released from cracks or fissures.

"All these things, these activity increases, tell you that -- man, I'm getting out of here. Something is happening. But none of this says exactly what will happen in exactly what time frame," Michalski continued.

Ghost towns filled with ash

Federal authorities are helping the response and evacuation operation. The army sent 20 military vehicles and 120 personnel to help affected residents, and the secretary of national defense said helicopters were on standby to evacuate people.

Aid organizations like the Red Cross are assisting on the ground by sending rescue vehicles and supplies.

Richard Gordon, Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross said evacuated areas look like "ghost towns" with houses "filled with ash."

"There's been some rain, many have collapsed already," Gordon said. "If you live in the area you'd probably be terrified."

In Batangas and Cavite towns, power is down due to heavy ash collecting on the electricity lines and there is no fresh water, Gordon said.

Evacuation centers include basketball courts, gyms and schools and are not designed for large-scale evacuations.

Red Cross teams on the ground are working to provide water tankers, ambulances, hotmeal vans, and masks, as well as providing psychological support and setting up 70-bed wards in heavily affected areas to care for people with respiratory problems caused by the ash.

"The situation there is very dusty, and certainly it gets into your lungs and can create long term damage," said Gordon. "We are advising people to close their windows with a damp cloth. People with respiratory illness or cardiovascular problems, they should move far away from the volcano to Manila or other provinces."

The ash fall has also damaged crops in the area such as corn and coffee, and continues to threaten fish stocks, said Agriculture Secretary William Dar. Batangas province supplies Metro Manila 40% of its harvest of fish, including tawilis or "live sardines" only found in the province.

A potential eruption could also bring long-term consequences for the area's economy.

The volcano is surrounded by a lake, which is a popular attraction -- meaning many of the towns in the vicinity are tourism hot spots. There are several amusement parks, lakeside resorts and yacht clubs within 17-kilometer zone.

The holiday town of Tagaytay, which lies close to the water's edge, is a popular getaway for Manila residents who often take boats onto the lake and hike up the volcano.

On Sunday, the volcanic ash spread as far as Quezon City north of Manila, prompting the suspension of all flights at the capital's international airport. By Tuesday, normal operations resumed, according to Airport General Manager Ed Monreal, though it's possible flights may be suspended again if Taal's activity increases.

The airport remains congested with people trying to get on flights, Monreal added.

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2020-01-14 07:04:00Z
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