London (AP): A volcano began erupting in southwestern Iceland on Tuesday, just hours after authorities evacuated a nearby community and the Blue Lagoon spa.
Flames and smoke shot through the air as the volcanic fissure opened near the town of Grindavik, where some 40 homes have been evacuated, national broadcaster RUV reported. The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated a year ago when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for 800 years.
Webcams showed molten rock spewing out toward the community. Sirens sounded in Grindavik while the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa - one of Iceland's biggest tourist attractions - was also evacuated.
"The fissure is now about 500 metres (yards) long and has reached through the protective barrier north of Grindavík," Iceland's Met Office said in a statement. "The fissure continues to grow, and it cannot be ruled out that it may continue to open further south."
The magma flow began at about 6:30 am local time (0630 GMT) accompanied by an intense earthquake swarm similar to previous eruptions, the Icelandic Met Office said.
Iceland sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic. The most disruptive incident in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation will operate 1000 additional special services in view of the Christmas festival.
In addition to the existing schedule, the special services will run on 19.12.2025, 20.12.2025 and 24.12.2025. Further, special buses will be operated from various places of intra & Interstate places to Bengaluru on 26.12.2025 & 28.12.2025.
Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubbali, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and other places.
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Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri.
The corporation has also announced a discount of 5 per cent on the fare if four or more passengers book tickets under a single reservation. A discount of 10 per cent will be extended on return journey tickets if onward and return tickets are booked simultaneously.
In addition to the above, special buses will be operated from all Taluk/District Bus Stands in the jurisdiction of KSRTC based on the traffic needs.
