Papua New Guinea deploys army to help volcano emergency

Troops have been sent to help thousands of people displaced by a volcanic eruption on a remote archipelago in Papua New Guinea, the prime minister said yesterday, as a second volcano erupted. Lava and ash flows from Mount Ulawun -- one of the world’s most hazardous volcanoes -- have subsided, but between 7,000 and 13,000 people are believed to have been displaced and a state of emergency has been declared.

“We will mobilise the military to go in and assess the situation, and we will despatch the military to assist on the ground,” said Prime Minister James Marape. Local MP Joseph Lelang said as many as 13,000 people may have been displaced, and 1,000 have lost their homes, while Leo Porikura, an official with the West New Britain Disaster Office, put the number of displaced at around 7,000.

The emergency response was hampered by the closure of the region’s main airport, which Saunders said was covered by around three centimetres of ash and remained closed. Volcanologists reported that the nearby island volcano of Manam had begun to erupt.