TOKACHI ERUPTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19801, 28 May 1926, Page 9

TOKACHI ERUPTION

LAVA STREAMS AND ROODS. ' WHOLE TILLAGES ENGULFED. (Presa Association —By Telegraph—Copyright.) TOKIO, May 26. Eye-witnesses state that the third eruption of Mount Tokachi was the worst as he lava freed the mountain lake, which swept —a 30ft wall of water—dow T n the hillside, wrecking farms; while the lava poured down from the craters engulfing villages and the railway. Warned by the preliminary rumblings, many people escaped before the eruption and the flood. 'As the calamity occurred during the daytime, many farmers who were working in the fields were saved, but they lost their families in the villages and became demented by their loss. A train from Asahigawa, warned by the rumblings, turned back and escaped the flowing lava. A relief corps was lushed to the scene, but the work was severely hampered by the flood and the lava covering the railway tracks, which prevented the relief train arriving. The latest reports from Hokkaido state that 144 bodies have been recovered The damage is estim,. Led at 2,000,000 yen The rescue work was hampered by » thick mist. The volcano is still emitting ashes intcrmitcntly.—Reuter.