Indonesia volcano killed at least 14 people and left 56 hospitalized in the crowded island o Java, officials said on Sunday.
The wounded and killed suffered severe burn wounds as a result of the volcano, said the spokesperson of National Disaster Mitigation in Indonesia Abdul Muhari.
He said that some 14 other villagers were missing as mud hampered crews to search.
“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” said Lumajang district
head Thoriqul Haq. He said several hundred people were moved to temporary shelters or
left for other safe areas, adding that a power blackout hampered the evacuation.
The debris and lava mixed with rainfall formed thick mud that destroyed the main bridge
connecting Lumajang and the neighbouring district of Malang and a smaller bridge, Haq said.
Semeru’s alert status had remained at the third-highest of four levels since it began
erupting last year despite an increase in activity since Wednesday.
He said rescuers were still searching for seven residents and sand miners along a river in
Curah Kobokan village who were reported missing.
Entire houses in the village were damaged by volcanic debris and more than 900 people
fled to temporary government shelters, Muhari said.
Liswanto, the head of Semeru’s monitoring post, said his office had informed the
community and the miners that hot ash could tumble down from Semeru’s crater at any
time, after sensors picked up increased activity in the past week.
But some residents who fled to a government shelter near Lumajang district’s head office said authorities did not convey any information to them about the volcano’s activities.
“Suddenly everything went dark, the bright afternoon turned into night. A rumbling sound
and heat forced us to run to the mosque,” said Fatmah, a resident who fled to the shelter from Curah Kobokan, about 5 kilometres from the crater. “It was a far stronger eruption than in January.”
Source: EuroNews
