"Sicilian Airport Reopens After 5 Days Of Ash From Mt Etna"

Friday, November 1, 2002                         

Sicilian Airport Reopens After 5 Days Of Ash From Mt Etna


CATANIA, Sicily (AP)--Following a five-day closure, Catania's airport
reopened Friday after winds blowing ash from Mount Etna's eruption
shifted and workers swept up truckloads of ash from the runway.

A plane arriving in the morning from Milan was the first air traffic the
airport handled since being shut down Sunday, when runways began being
covered with ash from the volcano in eastern Sicily. Other flights
followed.

About a dozen workers swept away ash from the runway and surrounding
airport roads early Friday to make Catania's Fontanarossa airport
operational again, said Salvatore Greco, a control tower official.

"We filled up 10 trucks with volcanic ash," said Greco.

Also closed because of the ash was the airport in Reggio Calabria, on
the toe of the mainland just across from Sicily, and officials there
said that facility would stay closed at least until Friday afternoon.

Mount Etna, Europe's biggest and most active volcano, came to life
Sunday, spewing out towering clouds of smoke and ash and pouring rivers
of lava down its slopes.

Although the lava hasn't threatened any of the mountainside towns, a
series of earthquakes which started after the eruption damaged some
buildings, and hundreds of people were sleeping with relatives or in
tents for fear their homes might collapse.

About a dozen small quakes rattled the mountain Friday morning, but no
major damage was reported.

As the winds shifted, volcanic ash showered the resort towns of Taormina
and Giardini Naxos on the coast near Catania Friday, just as tourists
were arriving for the long All Saints Day holiday weekend.

Etna's last major eruption was in 1992.


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