he Puyehue volcano in south Chile has begun to erupt, officials said.
The National Emergency Office of Chile confirmed the eruption Saturday, Xinhua reported.
Juan Andres Varas, governor of Los Rios, said "there is clearly a column of smoke about 10 miles high in the Puyehue volcano, which is quite shocking".
He said there was a strong smell of sulfur and large quantities of ash in the neighbouring areas.
Energy and Mining Miniter Laurence Golborne said the ash plume has a width of five kilometres. "This will be evaluated continuously for the next few hours," he said.
