Volcano eruption in Colombia kills 10

Bogota, Nov 23 (IANS) At least 10 people have been killed and many injured in the eruption of Nevado del Huila volcano in Columbia, EFE news agency reported Sunday.

Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia Cossio told reporters that 10 people had died in the eruption that occurred Thursday night.

The authorities have been unable to reach the highest parts of the volcano, which is located 285 km southwest of capital Bogota, as bad weather has kept helicopters carrying supplies out of the area and the roads were damaged by avalanches that occurred at the time of the eruption.

'The situation is pretty serious because we have been left practically on an island and I have confirmation that two people have been killed,' said Marco Tulio Tocono, governor of Talaga reservation, which is closest to the volcano.

The governor of the nearby Huila reservation, Jair Cuspian, reported the disappearance of eight people. Civil authorities in the region have said that some 150 people were trapped in the upper part of the canyon of a river and bad weather was hampering efforts to rescue them.

The eruption of the Nevado del Huila volcano Thursday night formed a crater approximately 400 meters (1,300 feet) in diameter on one of the peaks of this mountain range in southwest Colombia.

The volcano is located in the central Andean range of Colombia, in a region where the provinces of Huila, Tolima and Cauca come together.