Volcanic ash grounds east Caribbean flights

The eruption of a volcano on St Vincent has forced airport closures and flight cancellations in the eastern Caribbean.

Ash from the La Soufriere volcano in northern St Vincent has been falling in Barbados and Grenada.

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.

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.

Flights have already been limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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.

The Trinidad-based airline is owned by the governments of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

"The volcanic ash poses a significant threat to flight safety," Caribbean Airlines said.

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.

American Airlines and InterCaribbean Airways have also cancelled flights to several islands.

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.

Water supplies have also been disrupted, the government said.

La Soufriere is in the north of St Vincent – a country of 110,000 people that includes the Grenadines archipelago.

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.

"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.

"There have been more than 20 explosions so far, and the ash is going vertically and is being spread widely by wind."

No casualties have been reported from the eruptions. The previous eruption was in 1979, and a 1902 eruption killed over 1,000 people.

By Canute James