Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes as the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano sent a high plume of ash across South America on Tuesday.

The flights were also delayed in South Argentina which witnessed a thick layer of dust covering the snow everywhere.

Booming explosions were also heard across the Andes as toxic gases erupted from the volcano, reports said. Winds blew a six-mile high cloud of ash all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Authorities in Chile went house-to-house to evacuate people who are living near the volcano because of an increasing danger of toxic gas and flash floods.

Ash clouds fanned by the winds blew over neighboring Argentina, darkening the sky and resulting in the closure of the nearby airport. The volcano eruption also prompted authorities to close a border crossing into Argentina.

It was not clear which of the chain's four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions, a report in Daily Mail says. The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960.

Local media said the smell of sulphur hung in the air and there was constant seismic activity.

The Cordon Caulle (volcanic range) has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometer-high gas column, the state emergency office ONEMI said.

The government said it has evacuated 3,500 people from the surrounding area.

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Chilean volcano sends plumes of ash across South America
Lightning flashes around the ash plume at above the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos June 5, 2011. The volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching ash over 6 miles (10 km) into the sky, as winds fanned it toward neighboring Argentina, and prompted the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said. Picture taken June 5. REUTERS
Chilean volcano sends plumes of ash across South America
A helicopter flies over smoke and ash rising from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain near Osorno city in south-central Chile June 5, 2011. A volcano dormant for decades erupted in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching an ash cloud more than 6 miles (10 km) high that blew over the Andes and carpeted a popular ski resort in neighboring Argentina. Picture taken through a plane window. REUTERS
Chilean volcano sends plumes of ash across South America
A man covers his face as he walks through an ash-covered street of the mountain resort of San Martin de Los Andes in Argentina's Patagonia region June 6, 2011. A volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching an ash cloud more than 6 miles (10 km) high that blew over the Andes and carpeted the resort in neighbouring Argentina. The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of the capital, Santiago, in Patagonia also prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily travelled border crossing into Argentina. Chile's government said it was evacuating 3,500 people from the surrounding area as a precaution. Officials said the volcano was spitting molten rock, but there was no visible lava flow. REUTERS
Chilean volcano sends plumes of ash across South America
A boy wears a facemask to protect himself from the ash of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic eruption, in Rininahue June 6, 2011. The volcano in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching ash over 6 miles (10 km) into the sky, as winds fanned it toward neighboring Argentina, and prompted the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said. REUTERS
Chilean volcano sends plumes of ash across South America
Plume of ash, estimated six miles (10km) high and three mile wide is seen after a volcano erupted in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles (920 km) south of the capital, Santiago June 5, 2011. REUTERS
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