An explosive eruption rocked La Soufriere volano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Friday following mandatory evacuation orders from the local government. Erouscilla Jospeh, director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Center, said the ash column rose as high as 10 kilometers. The eruption followed mandatory evacuation orders issued Thursday as officials began to move people who live near La Soufriere volcano, planning to soon place them aboard cruise ships, send them to nearby islands or take them to shelters elsewhere in St. Vincent that are outside the danger zone. Roughly 16,000 people live in the red zone and will need to be evacuated, Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, told The Associated Press. The pandemic could hamper evacuation efforts. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference that people have to be vaccinated if they go aboard a cruise ship or are granted temporary refuge in another island. He said two Royal Caribbean cruise ships are expected to arrive by Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise ships by Friday. Islands that have said they would accept evacuees include St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua. “Not everything is going to go perfect, but if we all cooperate, we will come through this stronger than ever,” Gonsalves said. He noted that he was talking to Caribbean governments to accept people’s ID cards if they don’t have a passport. This is an emergency situation, and everybody understands that,” he said.
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