Three people trapped by lava at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano have to be airlifted to safety
Lava also destroyed a freshwater lake by boiling away all of the water in it, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said
Three people were airlifted to safety on Sunday morning as lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano threatened an isolated area where they had become trapped, the National Guard said.
The two men and a woman became the latest to be moved in a series of evacuations on Hawaii’s Big Island forced by the volcano, which has been erupting since May 3.
New lava flow threatens Hawaii residents’ key escape route
On Saturday, National Guard troops, police and firefighters ushered evacuees from homes on the eastern tip of the island, hours before lava cut off road access to the area, officials said.
A stream of lava as wide as three American football fields flowed over a highway near a junction at Kapoho, a seaside community rebuilt after a destructive eruption of Kilauea in 1960.
The lava flow left Kapoho and the adjacent development of Vacationland cut off from the rest of the island by road, according to the Hawaii County Civil Defence agency.
Lava also destroyed a freshwater lake by boiling away all of the water in it, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported late on Saturday.