JAKARTA: Searing ash towered in the sky over the Indonesian island of Java on Saturday after the Semeru volcano erupted, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.
Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) said in a statement Sunday the eruption had wounded 98 others, including two pregnant women, after it covered villages with ash and left people to run from billowing clouds of debris.
At least 300 families were evacuated following the eruption, according to Indah Amperawati, deputy head of Lumajang District, an area close to the volcano.
Indah further said that most of the burn victims have been evacuated to the Penanggal Primarily Health Center alongside a resident who died in the village of Curah Kobokan.
In its statement Sunday, the BNPB said search and rescue efforts were ongoing, but did not specify the number of people who were still reported missing. Authorities have converted schools, mosques, village halls and village houses into evacuation centers, the statement added.
An official at Indonesia’s search and rescue agency told news channel Metro TV that evacuations have been suspended due to hot clouds hampering efforts. Other obstacles include heavy rocks and hot volcanic sediment that is limiting movement, a local disaster mitigation agency official said.
The military has been asked for people and equipment to support rescue efforts, Maj. Gen. TNI Suharyanto, the head of the BNPB, told the press conference. Indonesia’s transportation ministry said on Sunday the eruption caused no disruption ton flights, though pilots have been alerted to watch out for the ashfall.
Java is the largest population center in Indonesia’s massive island archipelago and home to the capital city of Jakarta. Standing at more than 12,000 feet high, Mount Semeru is the tallest mountain on Java.
Videos shared by government emergency response teams showed residents in the area running away from huge thick clouds of ash. Other footage shared by locals showed people gathering at a local mosque in Besuk Kobokan as smoke blankets the surrounding streets.
Indonesia straddles the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.
