Russia volcano eruption smothers villages and triggers aviation alert

Shiveluch volcano in Kamchatka region has spewed out ash cloud over area of 108,000 sq km

One of Russia’s most active volcanoes has erupted, shooting a vast cloud of ash far up into the sky and smothering villages in drifts of grey volcanic dust, triggering an aviation warning around the country’s far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula.

The Shiveluch volcano erupted just after midnight, reaching a crescendo about six hours later when it spewed an ash cloud across 108,000 sq km, according to the Kamchatka branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Survey.