1 Mar 2006

Fresh volcanic eruption on PNG's Manam Island

11:25 am on 1 March 2006

Hundreds of people have been told to leave a remote island on Papua New Guinea's north coast after its volcano began erupting again, spewing out ash and rocks.

Manam Island erupted over a three month period from October 2004, prompting the evacuation of more than 9,000 people after heavy ash falls destroyed houses and food crops and contaminated water sources.

Those Islanders were relocated in camps on the PNG mainland but several hundred people have since returned to the island as volcanic activity subsided.

PNG's Volcanological Observatory in Rabaul reported there had been a strong eruption from Manam's southern crater on Monday night.