Fast-flowing lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano shuts highway

Fast-moving lava from Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano forced officials to close part of a highway on Tuesday, and they warned that sharp, thin strands of volcanic glass fibres carried by the wind could injure eyes and lungs.As lava crossed Highway 132, officials shut a stretch of road from Lava Tree State Park to Four Corners and told residents who had not evacuated to leave the area immediately.The lava flow destroyed a farm where Kevin Hopkins and partners raise tropical fish and the ornamental carp known as koi.“It just came over and ate the farm, boiled the water out of the ponds,” Hopkins said.Earlier on Tuesday, a small explosion of ash erupted from the summit of the volcano in a vertical plume some 15,000ft (4,600m) high, the US Geological Survey said, the latest outburst in a month of volcanic activity. The agency warned that ash was drifting northwest and liable to affect anyone in the summit area.Hundreds of people have been ordered to leave the vicinity of one of the world’s most active volcanoes in its biggest eruption cycle in a century.Lava has also destroyed more than 400 electric poles and other equipment, causing power outages, the utility Hawaii Electric Light reported. It is unclear how many homes and businesses were without power.