Tourist chaos at Mount Etna: lava, smoke, blocked roads
About 1,000 day-trippers have flocked to watch the 3,300 metre-high Mount Etna, Europe's highest and most active volcano, erupt with smoke streaming from its summit and lava spilling over snow from the new "Bocca Nuova" crater, blocking streets and preventing rescue services from reaching the area if necessary, regional civil protection chief Salvo Cocina warned, CE Report quotes ANSA.
The hundreds of people who have reached the area to watch the exceptional view have "parked their cars along the narrow streets and blocked circulation" in the area of Vetore, "making the passage of rescue vehicles impossible", Cocina wrote on social media, stressing that he has alerted the prefect and police forces about the situation of risk.
The regional civil protection activated four units, from the areas of Belpasso, Ragalna, Nicolosi and Adrano, to assist the population and stop tourists and day-trippers from Sicily and beyond from driving through the area's overcrowded streets - a situation similar to the one recorded at the popular skiing destination of Roccaraso but with higher dangers, local officials said.
Last month, viral influencer posts about Roccaraso, a ski destination in central Italy, led 10,000 day-trippers to invade the resort, causing chaos on the slopes, traffic jams and allegations of bad behavior.
After viral posts of snowfall at the location, tour companies in the city of Naples and in the Campania region began to organize cheap tour buses for residents to spend a day in the mountains, prompting local authorities to enforce crowd-control measures.
