At least 3,300 residents have fled their homes around the Philippines' second-most active volcano, where two explosions were recorded early Sunday, officials said according to the dpa. Taal Volcano in Batangas province, 66 kilometres south of Manila, erupted on Saturday, generating a 3-kilometre-tall plume of steam, gas and ash. On Sunday, the explosions from Taal's main crater produced 800-metre and 400-metre-tall plumes, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a bulletin. A total of 3,383 residents from the high-risk towns of Agoncillo and Laurel near the volcano have moved to public schools turned into evacuation centre since Saturday, local officials said. "Communities around the Taal Lake shores are advised to remain vigilant, take precautionary measures against possible airborne ash and (volcanic fog)," Phivolcs said. Taal is a popular tourist destination for its picturesque crater lake and has the distinction of being the only known volcano in the world within a lake on an island. Its last major eruption was in January 2020, displacing more than 376,000 people. A total of 39 people died due to illness while in evacuation centres and accidents caused by thick ash fall.
