Joggers recount close encounter with Mayon ash plume

What began as a routine morning jog quickly turned into a frantic escape for Kenneth Urbano and his friends, who found themselves running for safety as Mayon Volcano suddenly spewed thick, dark ash on Saturday afternoon.

According to a YouScoop post, the group had headed to the Camalig Bypass Road in Albay for an afternoon jog, expecting nothing more than a quiet run with a view of the country’s most iconic volcano.

At first, the scene even felt picturesque.

Then they noticed white plumes drifting down Mayon’s slopes—something not entirely unusual given the volcano’s recent activity. Like many visitors drawn to its near-perfect cone, they paused, took photos, and admired the spectacle from a distance.

But the mood shifted quickly.

As they moved farther along the road, the emissions grew denser and darker, rising ominously into the sky.

“At first, we were amazed and even took photos,” Urbano recalled in Filipino. “But later, the situation worsened, so we ran as fast as we could. We thought we would be swallowed by ash.”

What followed, he said, felt like a scene lifted from a disaster film—what he described as a literal “run for your life.”

The group sprinted away from the area, unsure how quickly conditions might deteriorate. They eventually made it home safely after getting a ride from a passing vehicle.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has been closely monitoring the volcano, which remains under Alert Level 3—an indication of heightened unrest and the possibility of hazardous eruptions.

Recent observations have included intermittent ash emissions and other signs of magmatic activity.

Authorities continue to enforce a strict no-entry policy within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone, warning of risks such as pyroclastic density currents, lava flows, rockfalls, and ashfall.—MCG, GMA News