Signs of life at ‘no-man’s land’ around Philippines’ volcano

TAAL, Philippines: A desolate landscape of ash dunes and bare trees left by the eruption of the Philippines’ Taal volcano lay in contrast with a few signs of life at ground zero of the disaster on Tuesday.

The island site was buried by massive deposits of ash when Taal erupted last week and remains under a mandatory evacuation order due to a feared bigger blast.

Yet about a dozen white cows milled near dust-blanketed homes, and several brightly coloured boats were docked at the shore on Tuesday, according to an AFP reporter taken on a rare military flight around the area. Thin plumes of steam rose from the crater. Authorities have said any outward signs of an imminent eruption have been weak over the past several days.