Eight soldiers were reported missing after a volcano erupted last night on a small Yemeni island in the Red Sea, covering most of three-kilometre-long island with lava and ash, media reports said.

The Jabal al-Tair island, situated about 100 kilometres from the port city of Houdieda in western Yemen, has reportedly “disappeared” after the volcano began to spew lava hundreds of metres into the air.

The Dubai-based al-Arabiya channel aired footage of the violent eruption that prompted the authorities to evacuate an Yemeni army garrison stationed on the island known as “Bird's Mountain.”

The eight troopers are believed to be dead, but media said rescue teams launched a search operation for them, while remaining troops were evacuated late Sunday by navy ships.

The small island is unpopulated, only a military garrison being set up there since 1996 after a dispute between the Yemeni government and Eritrea over two nearby islands, Hanish and Zuqar.

According to Yemeni Minister of Oil and Minerals Khaled Bahah, “increasing” volcanic activity has been recorded since Friday when a magnitude-3.7 earthquake struck off the coast of the mountainous island.

Reports said the western part of the island collapsed and eight army troopers were missing. The Yemeni coast guard requested help from nearby NATO ships, and the Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto was the first to respond to the call.

The NATO ship along with Yemeni vessels are trying to find the missing servicemen, but they have little chance of finding them alive, media said.

Specialists say Jabal al-Tair lies on a fault line in the southern part of the Red Sea and the last eruption occurred in 1883.