Explosive island, humanitarian gesture

SAN'A, Yemen (AHN) - A volcano erupted Sunday in a tiny Yemeni island in the Red Sea, spewing lava and ash hundreds of feet into the air forcing local Yemeni authorities to evacuate a military base.

Local authorities said that joint NATO and Yemeni ships were searching for eight soldiers reported missing.

Reports from the Yemeni news agency SABA said that the eruption caused a landslide collapsing the western part of Jabal al-Tair island, reported.

The oval island, about two miles wide, lacks a settled population although it houses military installations used for naval control and observation for large cargo ships passing nearby.

The report, however, was not clear how many people were stationed on the island, although it confirmed that Yemeni ships had evacuated all personnel and were searching for eight missing military personnel.

Ken Allan, a Navy Public Affairs with the Canadian Armed Forces said a NATO fleet passing nearby reported seeing a "catastrophic volcanic eruption" at 7 p.m. local time Sunday on the island, about 70 miles off the Yemeni coast.

With the fleet was sailing toward the Suez Canal when it spotted the eruption, the government of Yemen asked NATO to assist in searching for survivors.

The closest ship in the vicinity, the HMCS Toronto, immediately headed toward the island.

Thank goodness there are some who remember we are all on this earth together.