KLM cancels dozens of flights due to Iceland volcanic eruption

THE HAGUE, Nov 3 (AFP) - Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Amsterdam airport Wednesday after Dutch airline KLM canceled dozens of flights for safety reasons to avoid clouds of black smoke and ashes from a volcanic eruption in Iceland, airport officials said.
The ashes which were drifting across Europe can damage aircraft engines.
On Tuesday transatlantic flights had been rerouted because of the volcanic plume which covered a several hundred kilometre-wide danger zone between Iceland and northern Norway.
On Wednesday hundreds of would-be passengers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport had to be accommodated at nearby hotels for the night but no rooms could be found for some 400 people who will spend the night on camp beds at the airport.

11/03/2004 19:30 GMT - AFP