Volcano Rains Boulders Down on Farmers; 25 Die

A volcano erupted without warning Tuesday, sending a plume of gritty ash three miles high and tons of boulders down onto farmers who ignored orders years ago to move to safer land.

At least 25 people were confirmed dead and at least 35 were missing in villages scattered on the slopes of the 8,077-foot Mayon volcano, according to the Philippine National Police.

Teams of rescuers today moved by helicopter and vehicles into settlements near the volcano.

Most of the missing were believed to be farmers trapped in their fields as mud and boulders roared down the slopes.

Thousands of people fled the area in cars, trucks, oxcarts and on foot after the volcano erupted at 1:10 p.m., sending a cone-shaped cloud of ash billowing upward. A second eruption followed about 2 1/2 hours later.

After a 1984 eruption spewed ash 12 miles high, the country’s volcanology institute banned villages within six miles of the volcano. But local officials estimated that 80,000 people ignored the warning and lived in more than 20 villages in the danger zone.

Ash darkened the sky in this port of more than 1 million people, about 10 miles southeast of the volcano, and officials were forced to turn off all electricity in the area when debris severed power lines.