MANILA: A volcano in the central Philippines erupted early Tuesday morning, sending a plume of ash 4,000 meters (2.5 miles) into the sky and prompting calls for local school cancellations. Kanlaon Volcano, one of 24 active volcanoes in the Southeast Asian nation, erupted in December, prompting the evacuation of surrounding villages. The area around the volcano on the island of Negros was still under evacuation orders when Tuesday’s eruption occurred. “An explosive eruption is currently occurring at the summit vent of Kanlaon Volcano that began at 5:51 am today,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.

The volcano “is producing a voluminous bent plume approximately 4,000 meters tall that is drifting southwest”, it said. The eruption stopped at 6:47 am (2247 GMT Monday), the institute reported later. Videos posted on social media showed a wide, billowing plume of smoke slowly stretching into the sky. “We were prepared for the eruption. The families within the 4 to 6 kilometers were already evacuated during the previous eruption last December,” John De Asis, a rescue official in Negros Occidental province’s La Castellana municipality, told AFP. “Right now we are just monitoring which villages will be affected by the ashfall.” He added they were recommending “the cancellation of classes and work in the municipality”.

Channel Nicor, 22, said she was waiting for a bus to take her to school when the eruption struck. “The sound seemed like a big rock had fallen from a high place, then I looked up and saw the (ash cloud) getting bigger and bigger from the volcano,” she told AFP. “When I saw the ash of course I felt nervous, but not as nervous as the previous eruption, because this time we know what to do.” The level three alert — out of a scale of five — put in place during December’s eruption remained unchanged. In September, hundreds of nearby residents were evacuated after the volcano spurted thousands of tons of harmful gases in a single day. — AFP