Volcanic ash covers towns
Eight streams of lava pour from Vesuvius
By Eleanor Packard, United Press staff writer
On the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, Italy –
Weary villagers in the Pompeii-Salerno aera today were digging out from a “lizard” of volcanic ash that swirled from Vesuvius in the last 12 hours.
Layers of ash three to 18 inches thick blocked highway traffic and threatened to cave in roofs.
Eight streams of lava were pouring down from the volcano. The main stream, 1,000 feet wide and 50 feet high, was on the southern slope and appeared headed halfway between the towns of Torre del Greco and Torre Annunziata.
Sluggish during the early days of the eruption, the main stream has increased in volume and was expected to reach the sea within three days if it maintains its present rate of flow. The town of Boscotrecase was in its path.
Jeeps struck
The road circling Vesuvius was cut by ash so deep that Army jeeps could not get through and had to be hauled out by trucks. Army trucks were called out to open the road. Ash was also reported blocking traffic on the main Torre Annunziata-Salerno highway.
Prof. Giuseppe Imbò of the Royal Italian Observatory estimated Vesuvius has been emitting one million cubic yards of lava, smoke and ash hourly since Saturday.
King visits scene
King Victor Emmanuel spent the afternoon visiting the sites of what had once been San Sebastiano and Massa di Somma.