(AP) –Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency reported Monday that at least six people have died as a series of volcanic eruptions spreads across the remote island of Flores.
The eruption on Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki shortly after midnight on Monday spewed thick brown ash to a height of up to 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) and the hot ash reached a nearby village, burning several houses, including a nunnery. Catholics, said Firman Yosef, an official at the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki monitoring post.
The Disaster Management Agency reduced the known death toll from an earlier report of nine, saying it had received updated information from local authorities. The Health Ministry said information on the number of victims and damage was continuing to be collected, as local media reported that more people were buried in collapsed houses.
Authorities also raised the danger level and expanded the danger zone of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki on Monday, following a series of eruptions that began last week.
The country’s volcano monitoring agency raised the volcano’s alert status to the highest level and doubled the exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius after midnight Monday, when eruptions became louder. frequent.
The agency said at least 10,000 people were affected by the eruption in Wulanggitang district, in the six nearby villages of Pululera, Nawokote, Hokeng Jaya, Klatanlo, Boru and Boru Kedang.
In Ile Bura district, four villages were affected: Dulipali, Nobo, Nurabelen and Riang Rita, while in Titehena district four villages were affected: Konga, Kobasoma, Bokang Wolomatang and Watowara.
It said volcanic material was thrown up to 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from its crater, covering nearby villages and towns with tons of volcanic debris and forcing residents to flee.
One nun in the village of Hokeng died and another is missing, said Agusta Palma, director of the San Gabriel Foundation that oversees convents on the majority-Catholic island.
“Our nuns ran out in panic under a shower of volcanic ash in the dark,” Palma said.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed tons of volcanic debris covering houses up to the rooftops in villages such as Hokeng, where hot volcanic material set houses alight.
It is Indonesia’s second volcanic eruption in just a few weeks. Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, erupted on October 27, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and covering nearby villages with debris, but no casualties were reported. .
Add Comment