Chile evacuated the last of a small group of military personnel and civilians from the vicinity of an erupting volcano in its remote Patagonian south before dawn yesterday, after it spat a surge of fiery material, officials said.

Chile?s government has already evacuated thousands of people from within a 50 km radius of Chaiten volcano, which lies some 1,220 km south of the capital Santiago and has showered towns as far away as neighboring Argentina in ash. Experts believe the volcano could continue belching out vast clouds of ash for months, and say it could rumble on for years. Chile has the world?s second most active string of volcanoes behind Indonesia. It is home to 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which experts say are potentially active. Around 60 have erupted over the past 450 years.