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La Palma volcano forces thousands out of homes

The volcanic eruption that has destroyed over 160 homes on the Spanish island of La Palma, forcing over 6,000 to evacuate, burned into a fourth day on Wednesday (September 22).

Families here, rushing to retrieve belongings from their homes and escape.

As sirens sounded and helicopters flew overhead.

Towers of magma burst high into the air overnight, spraying fiery debris and painting the sky red.

The lava has blanketed houses and fields in towns like El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane since the Cumbre Vieja volcano first erupted.

No fatalities or injuries have been reported, but drone footage showed two tongues of black lava advancing towards the sea. It's also incinerated a school.

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Experts say that if and when the lava reaches the sea, it could trigger more explosions and clouds of toxic gases.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, on Tuesday:

"The management of the crisis does not end when the lava reaches the sea. On the contrary, the management of the crisis will end when La Palma recovers its normality and, with the involvement of the different administrations, everything that the volcano and lava, unfortunately, has destroyed or will destroy is rebuilt."

The Canary Islands' vulcanology institute said the amplitude of the volcano's seismic activity intensified overnight into Wednesday.

That seismic activity is an indicator of how explosive the eruptions may be.