SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Lava started to spew from an erupting volcano in southern Chile on Tuesday, authorities said, ordering the immediate evacuation of all remaining residents and journalists from a nearby town.
Chaiten volcano, in Patagonia around 760 miles (1,220 km)south of the capital of Santiago, began erupting on Friday,sending a towering plume of ash into the sky that has sincecoated the surrounding area and reached as far as Argentina.
Fernando Aguila, governor of the affected Palena province,told local radio lava was flowing and said 180 civilians andaround 100 troops remained in Chaiten. Local televisionreported loud groaning sounds emanating from the volcano.
"The situation has changed suddenly," Rodrigo Rojas of theNational Emergency Office said in an interview.
"Today the volcano is erupting with pyroplastic material ona different scale," he added. "We presume lava is flowing andso have ordered the immediate precautionary evacuation of allcivilians, military and press in Chaiten."
Authorities have already evacuated around 4,200 people --nearly the whole population -- from Chaiten, which is six miles(10 km) from the volcano.
They are also evacuating a second town, Futaleufu, whichlies around 810 miles (1,300 km) south of Santiago and has alsobeen coated with ash. The area is some distance from Chile'svital mining industry farther north.
Chilean authorities were caught off guard by the eruptionof the 3,280-foot (1,000-meter) volcano, long consideredinactive. Officials say the volcano had been dormant forthousands of years before Friday.
(Reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Monica Vargas; Writingby Simon Gardner; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
