Italy's Mount Etna erupted early Monday, causing tourists to flee as it spewed a massive plume of hot volcanic debris into the air. Videos circulating on social media purportedly show people on guided tours running from the eruption.

The explosive activity has since moved to a "lava fountain," according to the nation's volcano monitoring agency . The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy said in a translated social media post that a pyroclastic flow, which is a combination of hot ash, rock fragments and gas, was "probably produced by the collapse of material from the northern side of the Southeast Crater."

Located on the eastern coast of Sicily between the cities of Messina and Catania, Mount Etna rises roughly 10,900 feet, making it the tallest active vo

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