Stromboli volcano erupts right next to sailors and sends a huge cloud of ash billowing towards them

Sailors flee for their lives as Stromboli volcano erupts right next to them and sends a huge cloud of ash billowing towards them

  • Elena Schiera, 19 was on sailing boat when Mount Stromboli near Sicily erupted
  • She filmed moment they escaped from pyroclastic flow advancing towards them
  • Smoke from the volcanic eruption reached a height of 1.2 miles (2 kilometres)
  • Witnesses said it was a greater intensity than the last eruption on July 3 

A group of sailors captured their miraculous escape from volcanic ash after they were caught sailing in the middle of a volcanic eruption. 

Elena Schiera, 19, from Palermo, was on a sailing boat when Mount Stromboli, on an island north of Sicily, erupted on August 28.

It sent pyroclastic flow, a fast moving mixture of volcanic ash, gas and rock, into the sea. 

They captured the nail-biting footage on their phones where the pyroclastic flow grew thicker and got dangerously close to their boat

Elena Schiera, 19, from Palermo, and Laura Crucilla were on a sailing boat when Mount Stromboli, north of Sicily, erupted on August 28

 

Ms Schiera was on the boat with her friend and her father

Ms Crucilla was sailing a 'safe distance' away from the volcano with her friend

Ms Schiera said: ‘At that moment the panic broke out because we had the cloud a few meters away from our stern, but thanks to my father we managed to get away just in time’

Ms Schiera and her friend Laura Crucilla captured the nail-biting footage on their phones and you can see the pyroclastic flow growing thicker and getting dangerously close to their boat.

The enormous black cloud from the eruption seems to follow the boat and gets faster.

Panic can be heard in the voices of the passengers as they pick up speed to escape the eruption. 

Some witnesses said there was a loud roar before the eruption which sent sand, ash and other volcanic material into the sea.

The smoke from the volcano reached a height of 1.2 miles (2 kilometres).

Ms Schiera told CNN: ‘We were sailing at a safe distance as per ordinance, when all of a sudden we heard a loud bang and saw a large black cloud spewing out of the Stromboli crater and pouring into the sea.’

They then quickly increased the speed of the boat to its maximum.  

She said: ‘Then the cloud arrived at sea and began to advance quickly towards us. 

‘At that moment the panic broke out because we had the cloud a few meters away from our stern, but thanks to my father we managed to get away just in time.’

The volcano last erupted on July 3 and killed hiker Massimo Imes, 35, according to AFP news agency.

The smoke from the volcano reached a height of 1.2 miles (2 kilometres) and sent pyroclastic flow, a fast moving mixture of volcanic ash, gas and rock, into the sea

Panic could be heard in the voices of the passengers as they picked up speed to escape the eruption

The smoke from the volcano reached a height of 1.2 miles (2 kilometres) and sent pyroclastic flow, a fast moving mixture of volcanic ash, gas and rock, into the sea

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