Mexico's Colima volcano erupts, forcing nearby communities to flee

Mexico's Colima volcano erupted on Friday (30 September), spewing ash and smoke into the surrounding sky and causing the emergency evacuation of two neighbouring villages.

National emergency services chief Luis Felipe Puente told how 350 villagers living in its shadow in the towns of La Yerbabuena and La Bercerrera had been evacuated to a nearby shelter.

The volcano is known as one of the country's most active and likely the most dangerous due to its volatile history.

The Colima volcanic complex is situated in Western Mexico between Colimo and Jalisco states.

Colima, also known as fuego, or fire, has erupted more more 30 times since 1585.

It suffered significant eruptions in the late 1990s. Scientific monitoring of the volcano began more than 20 years ago.

Colima last erupted in January 2016 causing villagers to evacuate after three explosions and repeated grumblings.

Thousands of others were also evacuated in early 2016 from the blast zone of the huge Popocatépetl volcano, just 35 miles from Mexico City, after smoke and ash began bellowing a mile into the earth's atmosphere.

The volcano had been showing warning signs that it could blow its top for the first time since 2000.