Climber Risks Life To Take Selfie Inside Active Volcano Crater

Story ByAna LacasaSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCentral European News

Video Credit: CEN

This is the moment a daredevil climber risks his life and ignores security measures to take a selfie video inside the mighty Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico after a week of sudden eruptions.

According to reports, the unnamed climber entered the 12-kilometre exclusion zone around Popocatepetl, an active volcano located in the states of Puebla and Morelos in central Mexico.

Pictures Credit:CEN

In the footage, the climber is seen approaching the top of the hissing crater and filming the clouds of gases rising up from inside.

At one point, the unnamed man turns the camera on himself and he is seen wearing protective eyewear and a helmet.

Pictures Credit:CEN

According to reports, the crater has a 350-metre (1,148-foot) diameter and is 150 metres (492 feet) deep.

Last month, a video of a group of reckless climbers walking to the top of the crater was shared on social media and was widely criticised as reckless by netizens.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@PC_Estatal

Mexico’s Civil Protection authority warned residents that it is very dangerous to break the exclusion zone and approach the active volcano.

Civil Protection spokesman David Leon Romero said: “Climbing to the crater not only risks the lives of the people involved, but also the safety of rescuers who have to help anyone breaking into the restricted area.”

No arrests have been reported and it is unclear if an investigation has been launched.

About 25 million people live within a 60-mile radius of the active volcano’s crater

The name Popocatepetl comes from the Nahuatl language and means ‘Smoking Mountain’. It is also referred to by Mexicans as ‘El Popo’.

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