A massive eruption at Mt. Etna forced tourists to flee the volcano on Monday after a plume of high temperature gases, ash and rock “several kilometers high” billowed into the air above them, Italian authorities said.

Tourists have been told to check for warnings before climbing towards the summit of Italy's Mount Etna after an eruption sent hikers scurrying for safety. Video footage from Monday's eruption showed dozens of people hurrying down a path as a large plume of ash rose behind them from the

In 1669, in what has been considered the volcano’s worst known eruption, lava buried a swath of Catania, about 15 miles away and devastated dozens of villages. An eruption in 1928 cut off a rail route circling the mountain’s base.