BATANGAS, Philippines – Thousands of people in the Philippines have evacuated after an active volcano blanketed several towns with ash.
The volcano, 45 miles south of Manila, has been sending up clouds of steam and ash since Sunday. The ash covered the ground, rooftops and roads. Vehicles stirred up clouds of ash as they traveled.
Nearby residents sought temporary shelter at evacuation centers.
Evacuees sat on makeshift mats, clinging to the belongings they managed to salvage before fleeing their homes.
More than 16,000 people were evacuated from the volcanic island and the area immediately around it. The area is normally a popular tourist spot.
Drone footage showed ash covering a town around nine miles from the volcano.
The volcano, known as Taal, is one of the most active in the Philippines. It has erupted more than 30 times in the past five centuries, most recently in 1977.
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