UN: All of St Vincent without clean water after volcanic eruption

The entire population of the Caribbean island of St Vincent has been left without clean water and electricity after last week's eruption of the La Soufriere volcano, a UN spokesperson said on Monday.

In addition, around 20,000 evacuees from the large island nation are still in need of shelter, Stephane Dujarric said, citing reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The volcano, which lies in the north of the island, erupted last Friday, emitting a 10-kilometre-high column of smoke.

"The eruption has affected most livelihoods in the northern part of the island, including banana farming, with ash and lava flows hampering the movement of people and goods," Dujarric said in a press briefing.

Tremors were still being felt over the weekend and there was another large explosion on Monday, according to the UWI research centre in Trinidad.


OCHA has warned that "explosions and accompanying ashfall, of similar or larger magnitude, are likely to continue to occur over the next few days."
St Vincent, the main island of the state of St Vincent and the Grenadines, has a population of around 100,000.

According to the UN, some 3,500 people were taken into 85 emergency shelters.

The 1,178-metre-tall La Soufriere is the only active volcano on St Vincent. During an eruption in 1902, around 1,500 people died. The last eruption was 1979.