Nevado del Huila is Colombia's third highest peak [Reuters]

About 3,500 people were leaving or being evacuated from the villages of Belalcazar and Paez, Carlos Marquez, national director the Red Cross, told Colombian radio on Tuesday.
 
The volcano, 240km southwest of Bogota, erupted just before midnight on Monday.
 
The extent of the eruption was not clear, but the authorities fear even minor eruptions could cause landslides and flooding by melting the snow and ice cap on top of the volcano.
 
The latest eruption was preceded by seismic rumblings which began on April 8.
 
The Nevado del Huila, which is topped with a crown of ice, is Colombia's third-highest peak.
 
In 1985, the town of Armero was destroyed and 25,000 people were killed when another volcano, the Nevado del Ruiz, exploded and set off a series of mudslides.

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