A volcano has erupted in southwestern Iceland, sending lava flowing towards a fishing village that had to be evacuated overnight.
The semi-molten rock has consumed at least two buildings on the outskirts of Grindavik – a town which also had to be evacuated in November before a massive eruption from the same peninsula.
In the weeks since, defensive walls were constructed around the volcano in the hope of directing magma away from the community of around 3,800 people.
But the barriers of earth and rock that were built north of Grindavik were been breached and lava has been moving towards the town, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said.
Footage showed that one structure, thought to be a home, caught fire on Sunday afternoon after lava crept towards it, while another building nearby was also hit.
It came after Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson wrote in a post on the X social media platform: “No lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat.”
He added there had been no interruptions to flights.
The nearby geothermal spa Blue Lagoon closed on Sunday due to “an increase in seismic activity detected in the area,” the popular tourist attraction said on its website.
The eruption comes after a series of earthquakes in the region.
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