'It was just pure chaos': BBC crew makes narrow escape as Mount Etna volcano erupts
Italy's Mount Etna — one of the most active volcanoes in the world and a popular tourist destination — suddenly erupted on Thursday, sending visitors and a TV news crew fleeing for their lives.
A BBC crew was caught in the explosion and captured dramatic footage of the eruption's aftermath. In the clip, scorching hot rocks and debris fall around tourists and the news crew as they run down the mountain in a panic.
BBC reporter Rebecca Morelle spoke with As It Happens host Carol Off about the dramatic escape. Here is part of their conversation.
Carol Off: Rebecca, what was the first sign that Mount Etna was about to blow?
Rebecca Morelle: Well, we already knew that Mount Etna was erupting. It was going through a short period of activity. We'd gone to film a lava flow that had formed overnight. We were away from the crater, which is where the really dangerous explosions take place. We went to see a lava flow that was really slowly snaking its way down the mountain.
We just started to run. I mean, run for our lives.- Rebecca Morelle, BBC
The scene was quite kind of serene at the time. We were there with a scientist. He was monitoring the situation. There were tourists there, too, because this activity wasn't really considered to be a dangerous thing to do.
Then, moments later, there was an explosion and essentially burning rocks, boulders, steam, blasting high up into the air. Of course, the stuff that goes up has to come down again.
We just started to run. I mean, run for our lives. I knew if we were hit by pieces of rock large enough, we'd die.
I thought we were all going to die. I fell over. I fell on my face as I was sprinting. I don't think I've ever run so fast, actually, as I was trying to get away from this.
But as I fell, all I could hear was the rocks hitting all around me and I just thought that was it. The other thing is we couldn't see anything because steam totally covered the scene. It was just pure chaos.
CO: You weren't near the source of the volcano, the mouth of it. So what caused the explosion?
RM: I've since found out it was clear that it was quite an unusual set of circumstances. Lava usually snakes its way quite safely and slowly down the mountain. That's why tourists are brought up to see these things because nothing, normally, goes wrong.
However, when we were there, it was a really clear day. The snow had started to melt. The meltwater usually drains away through the rocks, but, for whatever reason, some of it hadn't. It built up under the lava flow. So you imagine you've got these hot rocks moving above and then down below you've got a pool of really, really icy water. It starts to boil. The pressure builds and that's what let off this huge, huge explosion.
My camerawoman, Rachel Price, I mean, who's absolutely incredible, she filmed the whole thing.
CO: What happened to Rachel?
RM: She fell over. A lot if people fell over. And as she fell over, she was pelted with these rocks. Like, she had her coat, which was a thick, warm coat, and it was just covered in holes where these burning rocks had hit her, the size of your fist, just raining down on her.
One of them actually fell down the back of her coat and burnt a massive hole through her coat and onto her back, so she's burnt, but not too badly.
CO: How did you get out?
RM: The guides there at Mount Etna were incredible. So, a snow vehicle, a snow cat, had brought us up the mountain and there were tourists there too. So I was running. I'd fallen down. I got up, disorientated.
And then suddenly I heard the roar of the engine from this snow cat. And the driver started to beep his horn.
I ran over, then had to duck behind it again because a second barrage of rocks was flying through the air. And, eventually, I got on. And the BBC team, and tourists, everyone, piled onboard. They didn't leave anyone behind.
There was a huge hole above my head where a rock has actually passed through this enormous, you know, bulking tank of a vehicle. Its windows were smashed and I just thought, 'If a big enough rock could do that to this vehicle, imagine what that would have done if it had hit one of us?' I mean, I just can't believe we're alive.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more on this story, listen to our full interview with BBC reporter Rebecca Morelle.