Video shows car engulfed by lava that has destroyed 35 buildings
A camera watched a slow of ooze of lava engulf a car left on the side of a Hawaiian road as surges of molten rock destroyed at least 35 buildings in paradise.
About 1,700 Big Island residents have fled their rural communities as massive eruptions from the Kilauea Volcano sent molten lava not just flowing over streets but shooting hundreds of feet into the air.
Experts have been unsure where or when these so-called vents might crack open the ground, expelling toxic gas and magma as hot as 2,140 degrees Fahrenheit towards the Earth's surface.
Some of the fissures stretched several hundred yards — the largest of which has spewed lava that covers roughly 387,500 square feet.
Footage from one resident, sped up to show the lava moving faster than its deadly glacial meander, showed a car overcome by the natural phenomenon.
The lava shows no sign of stopping, with the number of buildings destroyed jumping to at least 35 on Monday as the merciless magma engulfs homes and other structures as it spreads from the cracks.
Amber Makuakane Kane told the Associated Press she lost her Leilana Estates home over the weekend as one of the vents sent lava right toward it.
“The volcano and the lava — it’s always been a part of my life,” she said. “It’s devastating ... but I’ve come to terms with it.”
With CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN, News Wire Services
