Chilean volcano: Lightning tears the sky apart.

By Daily Mail Reporter
Volcanic lightning bolts form in the ash plume during the eruption of the volcano in southern Chile
Winds fanned the ash toward neighbouring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, in the centre of the country, and its airport has also been closed.

The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles south of the capital, Santiago, also prompted authorities to close a busy border crossing into Argentina.

Ash has been thrown six miles up into the sky and the South American government has ordered the evacuation of 3,500 people from the surrounding area. The ash also swelled a nearby river and ravaged a nearby town of the same name.

Ash from a Chilean volcano is now stretching across Argentina to Buenos Aires, grounding most air travel to and from the country. State-owned airlines Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral announced that they have cancelled all flights until further notice. International air carriers Delta, American, United, Gol, and TAM air lines have cancelled flights to and from the airports in Buenos Aires as a precaution, and other carriers are expected to follow.

Local media said the smell of sulphur hung in the air and there was constant seismic activity.As a precaution, the government said it was evacuating.

Three years ago, Chile's Chaiten volcano erupted spectacularly for the first time in thousands of years, spewing molten rock and a vast cloud of ash that reached the stratosphere and was visible from space.

Chile's chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world's second largest after Indonesia. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted, and 500 are potentially active.

The plume could be seen from satalite photo's taken by NASA
Flames reach up to the heavens as lightning flashes criss-cross the sky.

Winds fanned the ash toward neighbouring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche.

It was not immediately clear which of the chain's four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions.

Lightning tears the sky apart above the glow of the Chilean volcano.

Volcanic lightning bolts form in the ash plume during the eruption of the volcano in southern Chile.

 The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle prompted authorities to close a busy border crossing into Argentina.