Residents of Volcanic Isle Offered Escape

SALEM, Montserrat — Citing the increased threat of a volcanic eruption, authorities expanded the off-limits zone on this Caribbean island Saturday and offered a voluntary evacuation package for residents.

Those wanting to leave Montserrat will be offered an unspecified amount of money and transportation to neighboring islands, including Antigua and Guadeloupe, the government said.

Details of the package will be released within days, Chief Minister Bertrand Osborne said in a radio broadcast. Officials were working to determine “who goes first and when,” he said.

Osborne and Montserrat’s British governor, Frank Savage, also ordered residents in the central towns of Salem, Flemmings, Hope and Olveston to evacuate to the safer north of the island by nightfall.

They cited a report by the Montserrat Volcano Observatory indicating that the Soufriere Hills volcano in southern Montserrat poses a greater danger to the central part of the island than previously thought.

Osborne appealed to residents in the already overcrowded north to be “supportive even though you may have to squeeze a bit. . . . Try to offer accommodation to your fellow Montserratians who may be in need at this trying time.”

Residents were told to take extra food, water, personal items and essential medicines.

The volcano already has forced authorities to evacuate the southern half of the 39-square-mile island, including the capital, Plymouth. The volcano became active in July 1995 and killed at least 10 people in a violent eruption June 25.

All but about 4,000 of the British colony’s 11,000 residents have left since 1995. More than 2,000 people live in crowded shelters in the north.

“It’s a day we have been battling for over two years to avoid,” Savage said of the evacuation announcement.

Rumors of an evacuation order had circulated since late Friday, prompting owners of shops and bars in Salem to close early. Many residents in central Montserrat had packed suitcases and boxes before Saturday’s announcement.