A bulging river of lava is seen flowing down the side of Mount Etna in this incredible drone footage.




Towering over Italy's coastal town of Catania, the volcano - which is one of the most active in the world - spewed out its fiery stream from an altitude of 3,000m.
The video was taken as Etna erupted at the end of March - just weeks after a "huge explosion" of lava injured 10 people.
Tourists, a BBC reporter and a scientist suffered burns and head injuries when steam and boiling rocks suddenly shot out the volcano on March 16.
A US serviceman based in Italy shot the latest footage over a period of weeks, capturing the explosion on March 29, which didn't affect Catania Fontanarossa Airport or other parts of Sicily.
The video was taken as Etna erupted at the end of March - just weeks after a "huge explosion" of lava injured 10 people



Mount Etna towers over Italy's coastal town of Catania
 
The terrifying eruption could even be seen from space due to incredible thermo-imaging cameras developed by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)
The terrifying eruption on March 16 could even be seen from space due to incredible thermo-imaging cameras developed by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV).
Through images provided by satellites of Copernicus Sentinel2A system, the institute has followed some of the most recent eruptions of Etna.
Developed as part of the activities of the ESA-GEP project (Geohazard Exploitation Platform) and funded by European Space Agency (ESA), the INGV system is currently undergoing operational tests on a selected number of active volcanoes.
Etna reportedly spewed lava three times in the three weeks leading up to the explosion



A US serviceman based in Italy shot the latest footage over a period of weeks





The INGV technology took a series of photos of the eruption from March 16




Mountain rescue teams raced to the scene and rescued a group of stranded tourists, and a BBC journalist who live-tweeted from the scene where her team had to run down the mountain to escape  Etna reportedly spewed lava three times in the three weeks leading up to the explosion - but this was the first eruption in more than a year and appears to have come out of the blueThe BBC's global science correspondent Rebecca Morelle reported with a series of tweets from the scene.She tweeted: "Running down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam - not an experience I ever ever want to repeat."Explosions like this have killed."



It is believed to be one of the largest volcano eruptions worldwide in recent years - and is being called Etna's biggest for at least 30 years.
One of the injured was a 78-year-old female tourist - when the lava flow mixing with steam pelted the group with boiling rocks.
"Lava flow mixed with steam - caused huge explosion - group pelted with boiling rocks and steam.



(The Mirror, UK)