Evacuation ordered on Italian island due to rise in potentially lethal gases

Evacuation ordered on Italian island due to rise in potentially lethal gases.

Tourists banned and evacuation ordered on the Italian island of Vulcano due to a rise in poisonous gases.

HUNDREDS of residents on the Italian island of Vulcano, in Sicily’s Aeolian archipelago, have been ordered to evacuate their homes and tourists have been banned after reports of a sudden increase in poisonous gas emissions.

Mayor Marco Giorgianni said that “data indicates an increase in gases that create strong concern because they can constitute a threat to public health,” during a Facebook live meeting with residents on Saturday, November 20.

According to the Daily Mail, people are banned from sleeping in their homes because they could be suffocated by dangerously high levels of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide.

A “red zone” has also been created by local authorities and movement of remaining residents from their homes has been restricted between 11 pm and 6 am where gas attributed to volcanic activity is more concentrated – with values of carbon dioxide (CO₂) above normal levels. Giorgianni said the island will now be off-limits for tourists for a month.

People on the Italian island have become ill and cats have allegedly been passing out in the street due to CO2 levels soaring over the last month.

Levels have risen from 80 tons to 480 tons, five times more than normal, meaning there is less oxygen in the air.

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