Europe’s tallest and most active volcano Mount Etna has sent a tower of sparks and fire into the sky around it as it started to erupt on Saturday.

Europe’s tallest and most active volcano Mount Etna has sent a tower of sparks and fire into the sky around it as it started to erupt on Saturday

The plume of ash rising from Mount Etna can be seen across much of eastern Sicily. Its eruptions are not infrequent, but the last major one occurred in 1992. The latest eruption was preceded by a series of underground tremors on Friday.

The nearest airport and airspace in Italy were forced to close temporarily but none of the villages on the slopes of the mountain have been forced to evacuate so far.

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