'We witnessed volcano eruption 12 miles from us'

A couple said they experienced a "once in a lifetime" event when they witnessed a volcano erupt on their holiday.

George and Anita Roberts, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, flew out to Giardini Naxos on the island of Sicily at the end of May to enjoy a week's holiday.

Days into their trip, they were shocked when nearby Mount Etna - one of the world's most active volcanoes - erupted just 12 miles (19km) from their hotel on 2 June.

While the couple itted it had been scary to witness, it had also been "exciting".

On the morning of the eruption, the couple had been enjoying some time around the swimming pool when Mrs Roberts, 74, was alerted to smoke coming out of the volcano by others.

Mr Roberts, 75, is an amateur astronomer and brought along his smart telescope, so decided at that point to go up to the hotel's roof terrace and set it up.

"It only took us about 30 minutes and Anita was taking pictures with her smart phone while I was doing it," he explained.

"After 30 minutes there was nothing more really other than a lot of smoke, then all of a sudden this column of smoke erupted vertically with real force."

Mrs Roberts said she had been keeping an eye on local information on the volcano, but had not seen any warning.

"It was very exciting," she said.

"When it started, because we'd seen more minor explosions in other places, we just thought it was something quite small.

"When it developed the second head on the mushroom [cloud], we thought that it possibly was alarming."

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) Etna Observatory said there had been a number of explosions of "increasing intensity" recorded in the early hours of that morning.

Later there was a partial collapse of the volcano's crater which produced a pyroclastic flow and an ash cloud "visible in much of easter Sicily", INGV said.

Mr Roberts said the cloud "kept doubling in size" which was "incredible to see".

"It was a once in a lifetime experience," he added.

By about 18:30 local time INGV said there had been an end to the activity and the ash cloud had been swept away by wind from where Mr and Mrs Roberts were staying.

Both looked positively on the experience and are already planning on visiting again next year.

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