Flights are expected to remain suspended until the middle of the week due to ash clouds spewing from a string of volcanoes in southern Chile and Argentina.
Around 3,500 people are reported to have left the region after the weekend eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano range, about 500 miles south of the Chile’s capital of Santiago.
Wind carried ash across the Andes, dropping a grey blanket on the Argentine resort of of Bariloche. A change of direction then sent ash back to the Chilean side. San Carlos de Bariloche, about 62 miles east of the volcano, remains on alert.
Authorities said school classes and other public activities were cancelled, and flights were likely to remain suspended until mid-week.
This is the first serious eruption of the volcano chain since 1960, when the area was hit by a massive earthquake.