Lava from the volcano reaches the sea on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain. AP Photo
A composite of satellite images show the lava flow from the Cumbre Vieja volcano. Reuters
People watch on as the Cumbre Vieja Volcano continues spitting lava. EPA
Lava from a volcano reaches the sea on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain in the early hours of Wednesday Sept. 29, 2021. Lava from the new volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma reached the Atlantic ocean last night, at the area known as Los Guirres beach, also known as Playa Nueva (New Beach). (AP Photo / Saul Santos)
The lava reached the ocean nine days after it started to flow down the mountain, wrecking buildings and destroying crops. Photo: AP
Huge clouds of white steam billow up as lava makes contact with the ocean. Photo: Reuters
Lava is seen through the window of a kitchen in El Paso. Photo: Reuters
A woman watches the lava coming out of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma. Photo: EPA
In this photo made available by Ume (Unidad Militar de Emergencias), Military Emergency Unit personal take gas reading measurements near a volcano on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain, in the early hours of Tuesday Sept. 28, 2021. Lava flowing from an erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma has picked up pace on its way to the sea. Officials say it is now within about 800 meters (875 yards) of the shoreline. When the molten rock eventually meets the sea water it could trigger explosions and toxic gas. (Luismi Ortiz / UME via AP)
Lava has been flowing down the Cumbre Vieja volcano's western flank towards the sea since September 19. Photo: Reuters
Smoke rises from the erupting Cumbre Vieja volcano as seen from the village of Tazacorte on La Palma. Photo: EPA
Lava from a volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma reached the Atlantic Ocean late on Tuesday evening, nine days after it started to flow down the mountain.
Columns of steam that experts had warned could contain toxic gases billowed skywards when the molten rock tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean at 11 pm on Tuesday.
The area had been evacuated for several days as authorities waited for the lava to cover the 6.5 kilometres to the water.
Its erratic flows and changes in the terrain had slowed its progress. Authorities established a security perimeter of 3.5km and asked residents in the wider area to remain indoors with windows shut to avoid breathing in gases.
Members of a military emergency unit take a gas reading on La Palma after lava reached the sea. AP
No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, thanks to prompt evacuations involving more than 6,000 people, in the first hours after last week’s eruption.
Huge clouds of white steam billowed up from the Playa Nueva area as the lava made contact with the ocean.
Dramatic television images showed a stream of glowing lava cascading off a cliff into the water.
"The lava flow has reached the sea at Playa Nueva," the Canary Islands Volcanic Institute (Involcan) said on Twitter on Tuesday night.
Officials said the lava flowing into the sea could trigger explosions and clouds of toxic gas, and the Canary Islands' emergency service urged those outdoors to immediately find a safe place in which to shelter. No injuries were reported.
"When the lava reaches the sea, the lockdown must be strictly observed," Miguel Angel Morcuende, director of the Pevolca response committee, said on Tuesday.
Involcan said that inhaling or contact with acid gases or liquids could cause irritation of the skin, eyes and respiratory tract. It may also result in breathing difficulties, especially in people with existing respiratory diseases,.
Lava has been flowing down the Cumbre Vieja volcano's western flank towards the sea since September 19.
The flow generated an impressive deposit more than 50 metres high, researchers from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography tweeted, posting pictures from the research vessel Ramon Margalef.
Thousands of people were moved to safety and three coastal villages were locked down on Monday in anticipation of the lava meeting the Atlantic.
Spain classified La Palma as a disaster zone on Tuesday, a move that will bring financial support to the island.
The government announced a first package of €10.5 million ($12.3m), which includes about €5m to buy houses, with the rest to acquire furniture and essential household goods, government spokeswoman Isabel Rodriguez said.
One resident who was moved last week from the village of Tacande de Arriba was delighted to find his house still standing and his pet cats unscathed.
"It's a good feeling, a fantastic feeling," said Gert Waegerle, 75, who on Friday fled the advancing lava with his five turtles but had to leave the cats behind.
"I am super happy because in the end, everything turned out fine."
The two last eruptions on La Palma, in 1949 and 1971, killed a total of three people, two of them from gas inhalation.
Watch: lava from La Palma volcano eruption collapses church tower
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area. Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife. Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”. He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale. Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
