Covered in volcanic ash

7 June 2011 01:07 pm

An aircraft belonging to Austral with ash on it from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain remains standred on the tarmac of the sky resort San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina's Patagonia June 6, 2011. A volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching an ash cloud more than 6 miles (10 km) high that blew over the Andes and carpeted the resort in neighboring Argentina. The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of the capital, Santiago, in Patagonia also prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily traveled border crossing into Argentina. Chile's government said it was evacuating 3,500 people from the surrounding area as a precaution. Officials said the volcano was spitting molten rock, but there was no visible lava flow. REUTERS