A man has died after the roof of his house collapsed while he was trying to clear the ash that landed on it during the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma.

The unnamed 70-year-old man died when the roof of his house collapsed apparently under his weight and that of the ash from the ongoing Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption on the Spanish island, local media outlets including La Verdad reported on Saturday, 13th November.

The incident occurred in the neighbourhood of Corazoncillo in the municipality of El Paso in the centre of the island, which is part of the Canary Islands archipelago.

The man had returned to his home located within the exclusion zone with a group of 10 local volunteers to clear ash off houses in the neighbourhood with permission from the authorities.

After finishing the clearing operation, the other volunteers left the area without realising that one of the group was missing. It was only when the man’s daughter noticed that he had failed to return that the authorities were alerted.

A search operation was launched using drones that scoured the area surrounding the man’s house.

A drone eventually located the man’s body and the authorities were able to confirm that he had died.

According to La Verdad, he became separated from the group when he went to his house alone to clear ash from the roof.

Sergio Rodriguez, the mayor of El Paso, said that the roof of the house had been cleared of ash just a few days prior to the collapse.

However, due to the intensity of the eruption, which has now been ongoing since 19th September, ash quickly built up on the roof again following the clearing.

The authorities currently believe that part of the roof collapsed when the man was on top of it trying to clear off the ash.

Miguel Angel Morcuende, the technical director of the Volcano Risk Prevention Plan (Pevolca), said that the cleaning of roofs is permitted, but all safety measures must be adhered to by volunteers.

He added that working alone goes against the rules, as clearing crews should always stick together.

Morcuende expressed his condolences to the man’s family and said that he “deeply” regretted his death.