<article><p class="lead">The eruption of a volcano on St Vincent has forced airport closures and flight cancellations in the eastern Caribbean.</p><p>Ash from the <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/2203900-st-vincent-volcano-erupts-flights-clear-for-now?backToResults=true">La Soufriere volcano</a> in northern St Vincent has been falling in Barbados and Grenada.</p><p>The Adams international airport in Barbados – a hub for regional air traffic – is closed until noon on 14 April because of heavy ash. Barbados is 190km (118mi) east of St Vincent.</p><p>St Vincent's Argyle international airport in the south of the island has been closed since 9 April after the first eruption earlier that day.</p><p>Flights have already been limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>One of the region's main international carriers, Caribbean Airlines, cancelled and rerouted several flights that were scheduled for Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, Dominica, Kingston and New York. </p><p>The Trinidad-based airline is owned by the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.</p><p>"The volcanic ash poses a significant threat to flight safety," Caribbean Airlines said.</p><p>Inter-island commuter airline LIAT based in Antigua has also suspended flights serving islands close to St Vincent. LIAT is owned by several eastern Caribbean governments.</p><p>American Airlines and InterCaribbean Airways have also cancelled flights to several islands.</p><p>The eruption has caused power cuts across St Vincent. Power lines have collapsed under the weight of ash from the volcano, power company Vinlec said.</p><p>Water supplies have also been disrupted, the government said.</p><p>La Soufriere is in the north of St Vincent – a country of 110,000 people that includes the Grenadines archipelago.</p><p>About 20,000 people have been evacuated from the area to shelters in the south. Some have been sent to cruise ships in the island's ports, but a plan to send affected people to neighboring islands has been scuttled by the airport closures and flight cancellations.</p><p>"It is possible that the eruptions could go on for months," director of the University of the West Indies seismic research center Erouscilla Joseph said.</p><p>"There have been more than 20 explosions so far, and the ash is going vertically and is being spread widely by wind."</p><p>No casualties have been reported from the eruptions. The previous eruption was in 1979, and a 1902 eruption killed over 1,000 people.</p><p class="bylines">By Canute James</p></article>
