A 72-year-old man has become the first victim of the La Palma volcano, nearly two months after it erupted.
The victim is believed to have fallen while cleaning ash from the roof of his home in El Paso in the west of the island.
The unnamed Spaniard is understood to have been reported missing yesterday, and his body was discovered today.
Although the house where the tragedy occurred was in an exclusion zone established after the volcano eruption, local reports said he had been given permission to access the area with a small group of locals to clean ash covering their properties and feed animals left behind.
Sergio Rodriguez, mayor of El Paso, confirmed the death and said it was still being investigated.
He said: “The Civil Guard have just informed me of the tragedy.
“The man in question is a local from an area called Las Manchas who owned a property there and was part of the teams that were going in regularly to clean ash from the roofs.”
His daughter is said to have reported him missing.
A drone flying over the property where he lost his life picked up a hole in the roof, prompting the theory he had fallen after climbing to the top of the house to remove the ash before it collapsed under the weight.
The theory he could have died from inhaling sulphur dioxide is also being studied.
The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on September 19 and more than 2,600 buildings have now been destroyed.
No fatalities had previously been reported because of prompt evacuations by police who have worked hard to ensure people stay away from off-limits areas.
Around 7,000 of the island’s 85,000 residents have been evacuated since the start of the emergency.
An earthquake of 5.0 on the Richter scale was measured earlier today, the strongest of a number that have occurred on the island in recent hours.
