Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Banchory hairdresser speaks of terror at being stranded in Philippines volcanic eruption

Post Thumbnail

A Banchory woman has spoken of how her hair was enveloped in ash awhile she tried to return to the safety of her hotel during a volcanic eruption in the Philippines.

Authorities yesterday urged a “total evacuation” of nearly half a million people near the capital Manila, after a volcano spewed ash up to nine miles into the air on Sunday and prompted warnings of a possible “explosive eruption.”

The Taal Volcano, about 37 miles south of Manila on the island of Luzon, is one of the country’s most active sites.

Images from the scene showed streams of lava beginning to gush out of the volcanic vent, with the sky above the eruption still thick and dark with ash and steam.

Emma Samuel travelled to Manila last week to volunteer with charity organisation HairAid.

The 27-year-old was meant to be visiting orphanages to give children hair cuts and teach women how to cut hair, so they can start their own businesses.

However, her selfless work got off to a “rocky start” when the Taal Volcano erupted and she and hundreds of locals and tourists have now been caught up in the devastation.

Ms Samuel, who owns Avenue 23 Hair Beauty and Tanning in Torphins, explained how her “hair and skin felt gritty” due to ash falling all around her and said she had never seen anything like it.

She added: “We first heard on Monday evening when we came back from our evening meal. A few of the people in charge of the project went out to get masks but almost everywhere had sold out of them.

“When we were walking back to our taxi to get back to our hotel, our hair and skin felt gritty and like sand, due to the ash fall.

“We are required to stay indoors, but if we do need to go outside, we have to be covered up and wear masks.”

The award winning hairdresser added:  “The volcano eruptions have caused our five-day programme to suffer: this gives us a knock-on affect which means double the work in less time.

“Monday was our first teaching day, but we were only allowed to go to one of our six locations across the city for safety reasons with the ash fall.”

She is crossing her fingers that the devastation will clear in the coming days, so she can get out into the community to carry out her work commitments.

Emma and other charity workers hug within their shelter

Taal Volcano is considered among the world’s most dangerous sites of seismic activity, because of the vast number of people who live in its immediate vicinity.

The area, which has been designated as a volcanic danger zone, is home to more than 450,000 residents, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

She added: “One of our members is stuck in another Filipino airport as her flight from Australia got diverted.

“I am due to fly home on Saturday, but knowing that the airport might not open is a little unsettling.”

To find out more about Avenue 23, click here

And for HairAid, click here