Red Sea island 'disappears' after volcano eruption (1st Lead)

Oct 1, 2007, 11:57 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - A small island off the Red Sea coast of Yemen 'has disappeared' after a volcano eruption last night, an Arab TV channel said on Monday.

Footage shown on the Dubai-based al-Arabya channel showed a glowing volcanic eruption on Sunday evening on the three-kilometre- long island of Jabal al-Tair.

Al-Arabya said the island has disappeared and eight missing personnel from the Yemeni army garrison stationed on the island were regarded dead.

But the state news agency reported that rescue teams were still searching for the missing soldiers.

Navy ships were sent late on Sunday to evacuate the troops stationed on Jabal al-Tair (Bird's Mountain), an unpopulated island located about 100 kilometres from the port city of Houdieda in western Yemen, it said.

Yemen has had a military garrison on the island since 1996 following a dispute with Eritrea over nearby Hanish and Zuqar islands.

Yemen's Minister of Oil and Minerals Khaled Bahah told the news agency that the 'increasing' volcanic activity on the island was first registered on Friday after a mild quake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of the mountainous island.

   The agency said eight army troopers were missing in a landslide that was triggered by the earthquake.

The minister did not rule out an eruption from the island's highest mountain at 1,200 metres.

He said it remained 'unclear' whether an eruption would occur.

Seismologists say the island sits on a faultline in the southern part of the Red Sea. The last volcanic eruption was in 1883.