LESOTHO: The biggest eruption of Cape Verde volcano Pico do Fogo in decades has destroyed two villages and threatens a forest reserve. Some 1,500 people were forced to abandon their homes before the lava flow reached the villages.
A vast blanket of hardened lava now engulfs the villages of Portela and Bangeira on Fogo Island, located off the coast of West Africa.
“The lava front, more than 500 meters (1,640 feet) north of outlying houses in Bangeira a week ago, has swept over much of the village and continues to move forward,” said Arlindo Lima, who heads the civil protection services.
He added that the lava gained quite a lot of ground on Dec. 14, and was heading toward the lush Monte Velho forest reserve and an area that produces the island’s famed Fogo coffee.
“It’s more than a century and a half of history that has literally been wiped out,” said local journalist Arlinda Neves. She added that some of the destroyed buildings dated back to the 1860s.
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