Horrifying videos show residents running from the danger of the Indonesia volcano aftermath Over 1,300 people to be evacuated.
The following written content from Masrur Jamaluddin and Radina Gigova
At least 14 people are dead and hundreds are displaced after Mount Semeru, a volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted on Saturday, authorities said. Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) said in a statement Sunday the eruption had wounded 56 others, with 35 people in serious condition, after it covered villages with ash and left people to run from billowing clouds of debris.
Five of the victims have yet to be identified and nine people are still missing, the BNPB said. Some 1,300 people have been displaced by the eruption and reached evacuation centers, it added. Hundreds of houses have been totally destroyed and 33 schools have been damaged by the eruption, according to the BNPB.
Officials say the situation at Mount Semeru remains dangerous due to the risk of pyroclastic flows — a mix of ash, rock and volcanic gases that can be much more dangerous than lava.”We recommend everyone to increase their alert because the potential of pyroclastic flows threat is still high.
Liswanto said on Sunday his team recorded two pyroclastic flow events. The first was at 5 a.m. local and second one was at 10 a.m. local time. The deadly volcanic material was rolling down to Curah Kobokan village, which was evacuated on Saturday. They have urged people living up to 6 miles away from the volcano to evacuate as pyroclastic flows “is very hot, the temperature can reach more than 1000 Celsius,”
Liswanto said.Since there is no sign or method to predict when the pyroclastic flow will occur, the phenomenon can be very dangerous, Liswanto said.
One rescue volunteer in Indonesia’s Lumajang district told CNN Sunday that he and his team evacuated the bodies of six miners from a river in Curah Kobokan village, where they were mining sand in the river bank. Some of the miners were still inside their trucks, while others were discovered laying on the ground near the trucks, said 32-year-old volunteer Muhammad Firman Adiguna Effasa.
It is unclear if those six deaths are part of the 14 deaths that authorities announced. He added he was worried that more miners or other victims could be still out there but won’t survive because the lava flood was so intense.
Authorities have converted schools, mosques, village halls and village houses into evacuation centers, the statement said.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.
Volcanic ash and the smell of sulfur was first reported around 3 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), according to the Mount Semeru Volcano Observation Post. The station added that hot ash clouds were falling towards an East Java village, Sapitarang, in Pronojiwo District. 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.
Following the explosion rescue officials scrambled to evacuate victims from the surrounding area. Indah Amperawati, deputy head of Lumajang District, an area close to the volcano said Saturday 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. Emergency services had been unable to reach several other villages due to roads being blocked by mud and fallen trees, Indah told the press conference. Read more from CableNews
Subscribe here
The following written content from DW
The Semeru volcano erupted in the East Java province of Indonesia on Saturday, causing residents to flee their homes as a huge cloud of ash and smoke blanketed towns and villages nearby.
The eruption sent a cloud of smoke into the sky, with videos on social media showing residents fleeing the ash. Dozens of people suffered burns, officials have said.
The volcano has killed at least one person who suffered from severe burns and injured 41 others, authorities in the nearby city of Lumajang said.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said a bridge had collapsed and shared footage of the massive cloud of ash on Twitter.
The agency also said that 35 patients were receiving treatment at local medical facilities.
The eruption took place at 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 GMT). The 3,676 meter-tall (12,060 foot-tall) volcano is among the most active in Indonesia and the highest mountain on the island of Java.
Eruption displaces residents
Semeru has erupted several times since last December, causing hundreds to flee their homes.
Some of the footage from the latest eruption showed villagers running and screaming as a massive ash cloud closed in on them, enveloping the sky in darkness.
Residents were heard shouting “God is greatest” as they tried to make their escape.
Scorching gas and lava flowed 800 meters (2,624 feet) from the peak to a nearby river. It had raised fears of flooding, the disaster agency said.
The authorities said it was setting up evacuation tents for the displaced although evacuations had been hampered by thick smoke.
Deputy Chief of Lumajang district Indah Musdar said helicopters were needed to rescue people trapped inside buildings.
“We hope that those trapped can be rescued soon. Their families are crying and anxious about their fate,” Indah said.
She added that two people were reported missing and ten people were trapped by the lava flows and volcanic debris.
Sand miners trapped
The natural disaster had collapsed houses in the village of Curah Kobokan, Indah said.
Thoriqul Haq, the district chief of Lumajang said Semeru had been active since late Friday. The volcano last erupted in January causing no casualties.
He said that debris and lava mixed with the rainfall had damaged a road and bridge between Lumajang and Malang, hindering rescue efforts.
Haq added that sand miners were trapped near mines with authorities advising people to stay five kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater’s mouth.
“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” he said.
The surprise eruption was caused by heavy rainfall and a thunderstorm that had eroded and collapsed the lava dome, according to the head of local geological survey center, Eko Budi Lelono.
AirNav Indonesia said the eruption did not “cause significant impact” on flights in the region. Read more from DW
Subscribe here
