This archive report was first published on 30 June 2019.
On June 26, 2019, Mount Ulawun on Papua New Guinea's northeastern island of New Britain exploded suddenly, shooting an ash column 18 km (11.18 miles) into the air.
Just three days later, on June 29, 2019, nearby Manam erupted, sending dangerous pyroclastic flows down its slopes.
According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), as of Sunday, June 30, 2019, 3,775 people had fled the Manam eruption and 11,047 people from the Mount Ulawun eruption had taken shelter in refuge centres.
Volcanic ash has blanketed the area with tiny glass-like particles that can permanently damage the lungs, leading to sickness or death.
Leo Mapmani of the West New Britain Provincial Disaster Centre warned that health risks from the ash falls meant people were unable to return to their homes while the dust would damage food crops if rains did not wash it off soon.
“If it is on the hill tops and the tree tops and the wind blows, people will inhale it,” Mapmani told Reuters by telephone from West New Britain's provincial capital of Kimbe.
Manam Island resident Jordan Sauba told local media that his house was destroyed by ash and stones.
“We had nowhere to go so we went under the house and hid there for at least eight hours,” Sauba said from Manam Island.
