Chilean volcano turns Chaiten into ghost town

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

SANTIAGO (AFP) — A volcano in southern Chile erupting for the first time has buried the surrounding region under a blanket of ash and has turned Chaiten into a ghost town, with its 4,000 residents facing an uncertain future.

"There's no historical record on this volcano, so we have no way of knowing if the ash emissions will continue for weeks or even months," Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma told reporters a day after the Chaiten volcano blew its top.

All 4,000 inhabitants of Chaiten have been evacuated to nearby towns and cities, leaving only a skeleton crew of police, military and government officials to protect the abandoned properties.

A few locals have stubbornly refused to leave their city, which looks like a ghost town in television reports....