Footage shows the Kanlaon Volcano covered in ash clouds during an explosive eruption as residents fled on trucks.

Thousands of families have been evacuated so far in five cities and towns in the danger zone as the alert level was raised in Negros Occidental, the Philippines, on December 9.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised the alert level to 3 in Negros Island with traced movements of magma.

It said: 'All local government units are advised to evacuate the six-kilometre radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants.'

Kanlaon is one of the 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines.

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands inside the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' where the majority of Earth's volcano eruptions and earthquakes happen.