What is the name of the prisoner who survived the eruption in Krakatoa?

Question

I have a class project about "What do we do when things go wrong?". I need help! This project has to be done by 23 feb. I'm doing a project on the eruption of Krakatoa.

I am not talking about the one in 1902, but about the one in august 26-th and 27-th 1883
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I think the prisoner you are thinking of did not survive Krakatoa but another volcanic eruption on the Carribean Island of Martinique. I read an acount of this years ago. It was in the 19th C but unfortunately I can't remember the name. I belive he was the sole survivor on the Island

Additional info. Thanks to other respondent was indeed Mt Pele.
Paste from Wikipedia
he main eruption, on May 8, 1902, on the Ascension Day, destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre, about 4 miles south of the peak.

In the morning, people were observing the fireworks the mountain was showing off. The night shift telegraph operator was sending the reports of the volcano's activity, to the operator at Fort-de-France, claiming no significant new developments; his last transmission was "Allez", handing over the line to the remote operator. It was 7:52; the next second the telegraph line went dead. A cable repair ship had the city in direct view; the upper mountainside ripped open and a dense black cloud shot out horizontally. A second black cloud rolled upwards, forming a gigantic mushroom cloud and darkening the sky in 50 miles radius. The initial speed of both clouds was later calculated to over 670 kilometers per hour.

The horizontal pyroclastic cloud was hugging the ground, speeding down towards the city of Saint Pierre, appearing black and heavy, glowing hot from the inside. In under a minute it reached the city, instantly igniting everything combustible it came in contact with, covering the entire city.

A rush of wind followed, this time towards the mountain. Then came a half-hour downpour of muddy rain mixed with ashes. For the next several hours, all communication with the city was severed. Nobody knew what was happening, nor who had authority over the island, as the governor was unreachable and his status unknown. Some survivors were picked from the sea; mostly badly burned sailors, who had been blown into the sea by the blast and then clung for hours to floating debris.

A warship arrived towards the shore at about 12:30, but the heat prevented landing until about 3 PM. The city burned for several more days.

The area devastated by the pyroclastic cloud covered about 8 square miles, with the city of St. Pierre taking its brunt.

The cloud consisted of superheated steam and volcanic gases and dust, with temperatures reaching over 1000 °C.

Saint Pierre had a population of some ~28,000, which was swelled by refugees from the minor explosions and mud flows first emitted by the volcano. There were pitifully few survivors: Ludger Sylbaris, a prisoner held in an underground cell in the town's jail (later pardoned), and Léon Compere-Léandre, a man who lived at the edge of the city. Some sources also list Havivra Da Ifrile, a little girl. One woman, a housemaid, also survived the pyroclastic flow but perished soon after; the only thing she remembered from the event was sudden heat. She died very shortly after being discovered. Included among the victims were the passengers and crews of several ships docked at Saint Pierre.

One passenger steamship, the Roraima, which went missing on April 26, was believed to have been engulfed by ash from a preliminary explosion. However, it reached the port of Saint Pierre at 6:30 AM, shortly before the eruption, and was set aflame by the nuée ardente. It later sank; its wreck is still present offshore of Saint Pierre; 28 of her crew and all the passengers except two were killed by the cloud.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Are you sure you're not thinking of the prisoner who survived Mt. Pele's eruption in the early 1900s?

Answer 4

s.s.lucky ?