Attempt to ‘Plug’ Etna Volcano Suffers Setback

MT. ETNA, Sicily — Stiff winds Monday thwarted an attempt by helicopter-borne crews to “plug” an underground river of lava feeding a flow of molten rock down Europe’s most active volcano.

But further down Mt. Etna, a lava front moving toward the town of Zafferana appeared to be slowing down, and the immediate threat to houses on the volcano’s slopes receded.

A helicopter carrying U.S. Marines and Italian sailors and buffeted by high winds was forced to jettison a 5,000-pound steel platform on the mountainside. The platform was to have been placed near an opening to a tunnel at 7,800 feet, where lava has been accumulating.