Ash column rises from Mount Ulawun, seen from an airplane window, Papua New Guinea, November 21, 2023, in this photo taken from social media. Enoch Lapa/via REUTERS
SYDNEY — Some residents of a remote Papua New Guinea island were preparing Tuesday to evacuate from nearby an erupting volcano that sent an ash cloud into the sky, forcing the cancellation of some flights.
Teams were sent to the Mount Ulawun area on New Britain island to coordinate an evacuation after the eruption began on Monday, state broadcaster NBC PNG reported, senior disaster management officer Clement Bailey said.
Flights from the island’s Hoskins Airport were cancelled, the broadcaster said, adding that the volcano was still erupting.
Papua New Guinea lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped band of volcanoes and fault lines that surrounds the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
