Demise of a town
n . (N.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) 4 REYKJAVIK, March 23. A dark wave of lava is 2 creeping through the town _ of Vestmannaejyar, on the " Icelandic island of Heimaey, !''crushing three-storey buildrings as though they are card--board. J The molten flow from the !nearby volcano of Kirkjufell, which erupted two months [ago and turned the onceprosperous fishing port into a ghost town almost overnight, shows no sign of slackening. Moving forward at a rate of two yards an hour, the lava has engulfed 30 new family houses in two days, and has obliterated a row of concrete and steel-reinforced three-storey workers’ quarters. An emergency force of about 500 men is still on the tiny island, the 5000 inhabitants of which were ferried to safety in a Dunkirk-type of operation soon after the eruption. While forks of the stream-' ing lava have edged through the town and threatened the; . harbour, most of the flow up to now has been eastwards 1 from the volcano to the sea.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 38183, 24 March 1973, Page 15
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167Demise of a town Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 38183, 24 March 1973, Page 15
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