PRIME Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves has made a heartfelt plea to the international community to help his country recover from a volcanic eruption that has displaced 20,000 people, saying the Caribbean island nation is “in its midnight hour of need.”

“Across our land, the faces of men and women are strained and anxious. They’re hurting badly,” Mr Gonsalves told the United Nations security council on Monday, adding that his country is confronting “a monumental challenge of humanitarian relief.”

La Soufriere, the volcano on St Vincent, unleashed its first big eruption of ash and hot gas on April 9, a day after the government ordered people to evacuate homes nearby. Subsequent explosions have followed.