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Sicilians gathered on the slopes of Mount Etna to pray last night as a river of orange-black lava oozed towards the mounds of earth protecting a tourist resort.
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| Mount Etna's running lava in the early hours of July 24, 2001. Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe, five fissures have now opened up in the mountain, which has intensified its activity in recent weeks, and lava flows are now within four kilometres (2,4 miles) of the nearest village. [Reuters] |
A new fissure in the volcano opened earlier as emergency crews, blackened and sweating, battled to reinforce the mounds and divert lava away from Rifugio Sapienza. Mount Etna is Europe's most active volcano and stands at 10,860ft (3,310m).
The archbishop of Catania, Luigi Bommarito, held a mass on the slopes to ask for God's protection against an eruption that has wrongfooted vulcanologists and threatened the town of Nicolosi further down the slope. According to folklore, the town was saved in 1886 after the local archbishop held a statue of St Anthony before advancing lava.
Two main fronts sliding down the mountain appeared to have slowed, but the resort's kiosks were still menaced by magma that has consumed a warehouse, car park and ski-lifts, cut a highway in two and showered ash on to Catania's international airport.
Authorities closed the airport on Saturday for the second time in two weeks, forcing 190 flights to be cancelled. It reopened yesterday after workers had cleared debris from the runway, but explosive booms and smoke from the crater could yet force it to close for a third time.
Fields and tourism worth ￡5.7m have gone up in smoke and vulcanologists say the eruption could last several more weeks. Local guides who were born in the mountain's shadow are sceptical of assurances that Nicolosi, with a population of 6,000, is safe.
"It is a terrible moment. Even our grandfathers can't even remember it being like this," said Giovanni Serafina as lava bubbled less than three miles from the town's houses, many of which were adorned with statues of the Madonna for protection.
(Agencies)
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西西里的居民聚集在埃特纳火山山坡上一起祈祷神灵的保佑，在离他们不远的地方，火山喷出的红黑色的熔岩流正朝着为保护旅游景点修建的土堤渗过来。
火山新近多了一个裂缝，救援人员已经是浑身漆黑，大汗淋漓，但他们仍然在为加固土堤，让熔岩流改道，从而避免熔岩流流经Rifugio Sapienza 而奋战。埃特纳火山海拔10，860英尺（3，310米），是欧洲活动最为频繁的活火山。
卡塔尼亚教区的主教利吉-伯马瑞托在山坡上做起了弥撒，乞求上苍保护住在山坡下尼可罗西镇面临火山威胁的居民。这次岩浆和火山学家们开了个玩笑，并没有按照他们预测的路径流过。根据当地民间传说，1886年的时候当地一位主教在涌动的熔岩前举起圣安东尼的塑像，阻止了熔岩的前进，而使这座城镇幸免于难。
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| 7月29日，西西里岛埃特纳火山再次猛烈喷发，意大利官方被迫再次宣布这一地区进入紧急状态。[路透社照片] |
现在沿着山坡往下流动的两个主要岩浆流推进的速度已经减慢了。不过观光景点的亭阁仍未摆脱被岩浆吞噬的危险。岩浆已经吞没了一个仓库、一个停车场和一些运送滑雪者上山的缆索吊椅，切断了一条公路，卡塔尼亚国际机场内也弥漫着大量的火山灰。
当局已经在周日关闭了机场。致使190架航班被迫取消，这是两周来这座机场第二次被关闭。在工人们把飞机跑道上的灰烬清理干净之后，机场昨天重新对外开放。不过火山发出的隆隆巨响和火山口喷出的浓烟极有可能迫使机场第三次关闭。
农田和价值570万英镑的旅游收入一时间化为乌有，犹如火山浓烟消失在空中，无影无踪。火山研究人员称火山喷发还将持续几个星期。出生在火山脚下的当地导游对拥有6，000居民的尼可罗西镇能否安然度过此劫并没有什么把握。
看着熔岩在距自己住所不到3英里的地方汩汩地流动，镇上一位名叫杰奥瓦尼-瑟拉费那的居民说："太可怕了，就连我爷爷也未曾见到过这么可怕的场面。" 当地不少居民还把圣母玛利亚的塑像树立在家门口以求庇护。
(中国日报网站译)
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Updated: 2001-08-02 01:00
