Salvadorians flee volcanic activity
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Authorities in El Salvador evacuated an area around the Chaparrastique volcano after the peak shot a cloud of gas and ash about 3 miles into the air on Sunday.
Civil Defense Director Jorge Melendez said a yellow alert had been issued and investigators had been sent to the area to look for signs of fresh lava, but none has been detected so far.
“We have implemented emergency measures to evacuate villages located within three kilometers of the volcano,” Melendez said. Shelters have been set up for the evacuees, but Melendez said some inhabitants had been loath to leave their homes. “One has to leave for one’s own safety,” he said.
Assistant Health Minister Eduardo Espinoza said two people had been treated at hospitals for respiratory problems apparently linked to the eruption, “but we do not have any serious cases to report.”
Rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel
JERUSALEM – Rockets from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Sunday, causing no injuries.
Residents of the northern Israel town of Kiryat Shmona awoke to two large explosions. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket fire did not cause damage.
Lebanon’s state news agency said the border area was then shelled after the rockets hit Israel. The agency said more than 20 shells hit the mountainous region around the southern Lebanese border area of Rachaya.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the military for responding “quickly and forcefully” to the rocket attack. He accused the government of Lebanon of “not lifting a finger” to stop the “war crimes” committed in its territory by Hezbollah guerrillas.
2 peacekeepers killed in South Darfur
CAIRO – The United Nations says two peacekeepers have been killed while in Sudan’s South Darfur region.
A statement Sunday on behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a Jordanian and a Senegalese peacekeeper were killed by “unidentified assailants” while in a convoy traveling near Greida, South Darfur. The statement said peacekeepers killed one of the assailants and wounded another.
Darfur has been gripped by bloodshed since 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum, accusing it of discrimination and neglect. The United Nations says 300,000 people have died in the conflict and 2.7 million have fled their homes.
Associated Press
