Vita gazette – Nightmare in Catania. The airport closed until 8 pm due to the eruption of Etna. This time it is not a fire but the nocturnal eruption of Etna, which deposited a thick layer of volcanic ash.

It’s a restless summer for the Catania-Fontanarossa international airport: after many days of arrivals and departures in fits and starts due to the fire that last July 16 affected Terminal A but which has been definitively resolved, the airport will remain closed until 8 pm today, Monday 14 August, due to the nocturnal eruption of Etna which gave a show with fountains of lava and lapilli but also transported enormous quantities of volcanic ash which covered cars, roads and the track of the airport making take-offs and landings impossible.

“Due to the eruptive activity of Etna and the simultaneous fallout of volcanic ash, flight operations are suspended until 20.00. A statement this morning from the SAC (Catania Airport Company) announced that the closure affects the airspace sectors C1 and B3. The eruptive activity of Etna has released a dense cloud of ash which, due to the direction of the currents at high altitudes, fell on the roads of Catania but also of Municipalities such as Misterbianco and Linguaglossa up to even in the Syracuse area.

An ordinance of the mayor of Etna city, Enrico Tarantino, has ordered for the next 48 hours “the ban on the circulation of bicycles and motorcycles and the travel of vehicles up to the maximum speed of 30 km/hour on all the streets of the municipal area. At the disposal of the mayor Tarantino and the councillor for ecology Tomarchio, the cleaning of the city streets from volcanic sand has already started with extraordinary services with the use of personnel from the contractors of the waste collection service”. The municipal administration then recommended that citizens deposit the volcanic sand, eliminated from private spaces, in small containers and near homes.