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Mount Etna Erupts With Massive Cloud Of Ash

Sicily’s Mount Etna volcano erupted Monday, surprising tourists and sending them running as enormous plumes of ash and debris shot into the sky.

The eruptions on the Italian island started in the early-morning hours and quickly grew more intense. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said a pyroclastic flow, or avalanche of burning ash, crashed down the slopes of the volcano’s southeast crater.

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The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Toulouse alerted that the ash cloud had reached an estimated height of 21,000 feet.

An initial red aviation warning was downgraded to orange and there were no concerns of any immediate risk to the nearby population. Light ashfa

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