Philippine volcano evacuees head home as alert lowered

---

Evacuees affected by the Mayon volcano returning home with their belongings in the outskirts of Legazpi City, the Philippines' Albay province Saturday. — AFP Photo

LEGASPI, Philippines, Jan 2 (AFP): Tens of thousands of Filipinos evacuated from the shadow of a volcano that began spewing ash and lava prepared to head home on Saturday after the alert level was lowered.
The lowering of the alert level for the Mayon Volcano on the main island of Luzon means that people evacuated from an eight-kilometre (five-mile) danger zone can return home, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.
Around 50,000 people around Mayon were evacuated after the alert was raised to four on a five-point scale on December 20, signaling that a major volcanic eruption could be imminent in the disaster-prone Philippines.
"Definitely it is over... for now," said Joey Salceda, governor of Albay province, which includes Mayon.
However the institute warned that the "overall state of unrest remains relatively high," and that people should remain outside a six-kilometre "permanent danger zone".
"The situation could change and we could raise the alert level again. This is what happened in 2001 when Mayon paused for a long time and then resumed erupting," said institute director Renato Solidum.
Solidum warned there were still signs of magma rising in the volcano and that rocks, lava and volcanic ash already on the slopes could come crashing down in avalanches or mudslides.
More than 46,000 people living some seven to eight kilometres around Mayon will be allowed to return home while over 3,000 who live in a six-kilometre zone will have to remain in evacuation centres, Salceda said.
On Saturday the institute lowered the alert level to three, meaning "there is less probability of a hazardous explosion."