The dead body of a 72-year-old man was found this morning (Saturday) in a house located inside the exclusion perimeter of the eruption in Los Llanos de Aridane in La Palma. He was found in a house in the Corazoncillo neighbourhood , which is on the border between Los Llanos and El Paso, and it is being investigated whether his death is due to a fall from a roof while clearing volcanic ash or whether it is due to other circumstances.
His body has been transferred to the General Hospital in Santa Cruz de La Palma, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. The mayor of El Paso, Sergio Rodríguez, has said that the deceased is the owner of the house, and has indicated that the roofs of that area were subjected to an ash clearing a few days ago.
Rodríguez recalled that the teams of volunteers who clear the ash are usually made up of the owners of the houses, who form groups of four or five people who go to clean certain areas.
According to sources from the emergency services, there have been several accidents involving people who have fallen from roofs and hurt themselves, and if this is confirmed as the cause of his death, it would be the first one related to the consequences of the eruption in La Palma.
The man was discovered by emergency services when others leaving the exclusion zone commented that they hadn’t seen him, and reported it as they were concerned about his whereabouts.
Ash clearing continues as build-ups in some areas are up to 10ft thick. The weight of the ash has caused the collapse of some older buildings if it is allowed to build up so it is an ongoing continuous battle.
