Thousands in Philippines flee lava, sulfuric gas spewed by rumbling Mt. Mayon

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Thousands of local residents have fled their homes in the Philippines since the Mayon volcano began spewing lava and sulfuric gas on Sunday, media reports said.

Around 14,000 people were forced to flee the central province of Albay, where Mayon is located, for their safety, the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said in a statement to the daily PhilStar.

Mayon is one of the Philippines' most active volcanos and began spewing lava on Sunday night.

Authorities have established over 20 evacuation centers for more than 13,700 residents of the wider Bicol area.

Volcanologists in the Southeast Asian country raised Mayon to alert level three on a scale of five, signifying "relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and a warning of the increased possibility of a hazardous eruption within weeks or even days."