JAKARTA — Indonesia's Mount Semeru
volcano erupted Saturday, killing at least one person, leaving dozens with
burns and forcing thousands to flee.
Two other people were reported missing and
eight were trapped in debris, authorities said.
اضافة اعلان
More than 300 families with children took
shelter in badly hit Curah Kerobokan village in Lumajang in East Java after
their houses were destroyed by volcanic ash and lava.
Residents in other nearby villages fled in
panic as cold lava and volcanic ash reached their neighborhoods, local
authorities said.
Rescuers in Curah Kerobokan found a body
after a one-hour search.
Lumajang deputy regent Indah Masdar said 41
people suffered serious burns after being hit by hot lava.
"We brought the injured to health
centers and for those whose burns are very serious were rushed to
hospitals," Masdar said.
Two of the injured being treated at health
centers were pregnant women, she added.
Thick debris and knee-level cold lava floods
made it difficult for rescuers to search for the two missing locals and to
evacuate eight people trapped in a building covered by mud.
Access to Lumajang was also cut after cold
lava flow destroyed a bridge, the deputy regent said.
The national mitigation agency said it has
dispatched a team to help people at shelters but thick debris from volcanic ash
had prevented them from reaching the destination.
The Indonesian Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency said its satellite images show volcanic ash has entered
the Indian Ocean in the southern part of Java island.
A video released by the agency showed
locals, including scores of children, running for safety as Mount Semeru,
Java's highest mountain at 3,676 m, erupted at 3:00 pm local time (0700
GMT) on Saturday.
Semeru's alert status has remained at its
second-highest level since its previous major eruption in December 2020, which
also forced thousands to flee and left villages covered.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire,
where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic
activity.
The Southeast Asian archipelago nation has
nearly 130 active volcanoes.
In late 2018, a volcano in the strait
between Java and Sumatra islands erupted, causing an underwater landslide and
tsunami which killed more than 400 people.
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