Rome, 2 June (LaPresse) – "I am following the situation on Mount Etna very closely through the head of our Civil Protection Department. Director Cocina has been in constant contact since early this morning with the prefect of Catania and the heads of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. The partial collapse of the south-east crater, which generated an impressive eruptive cloud several kilometres high and a pyroclastic flow, is a phenomenon that we are monitoring with extreme caution. At the moment, initial surveys indicate that the material has not gone beyond the edge of the Valle del Leone and, as I have been assured, there is no danger to the population." This was stated by the President of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani. ‘I would like to thank,’ he continued, ‘the Civil Protection operators, the local authorities and the INGV experts for the immediate activation of the monitoring and safety protocols. The Region is ready to intervene, if necessary, with all means to protect the population and the territory.’ The head of the regional Civil Protection Agency, Salvo Cocina, recommends that hikers exercise extreme caution and avoid the summit area of the volcano until further notice, given the potential evolution of the phenomenon.