Emergency workers in the town of Ginostra, on the southern Italian island of Stromboli, began sweeping away a thick blanket of ash on Thursday, the day after the island’s volcano violently erupted.
Canadair water-bombing planes hovered above, attempting to put out fires started by the eruption which on Wednesday sent plumes of smoke two kilometres into the sky.
“We’ve dropped 320 water loads and we’re continuing,” forestry official Giovanni Giacoppo said.
Locals and tourists on the tiny island were told not to swim in the sea on Thursday because of the risk of mini tsunamis similar to those previous eruptions have caused, though some beachgoers ignored the warning.
Hundreds of tourists on Wednesday fled the island aboard ferries, many leaving without their luggage.
Hot rocks and fumes from the eruption killed Sicilian naval officer Massimo Imbesi, 35, and left his Brazilian hiking companion in shock, emergency services said.
Several other people suffered minor injuries in the eruption, they added.
