Mayon Volcano in Philippines Erupts -Tuesday May 07,2013

One of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes spewed huge stones and ash after daybreak on Tuesday May 07,2013, killing at least 5 climbers and trapping more than a dozen others near the crater in its first eruption in three years, officials said. 

Rescue teams and helicopters were sent to Mayon volcano in the central Philippines to bring out the dead.

At least seven were injured from a group of about 20 mountaineers who were caught by surprise by the sudden eruption.The injured included foreigners and Filipino guides. Some were in critical condition, said the chief of the national disaster agency, Eduardo del Rosario

The head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Renato Solidum, said Tuesday’s eruption was normal for the restive Mayon, about 340 kilometers southeast of Manila. It has erupted about 40 times during the last 400 years