SEMERU VOLCANO: MORE PEOPLE FLEE AS INDONESIA ISSUES HIGHEST WARNING

Mon 25 December 2022:

More people were evacuated Monday from nearby villages, following the eruption of Mount Semeru in Indonesia, with officials warning of the dangers of cooling lava, despite the volcano’s reduced activity.

More than 2,400 villagers have now fled their homes and taken shelter in 11 evacuation centres after the highest mountain on the country’s main island of Java erupted early morning Sunday.

Officials have announced a state of emergency for the next two weeks – and authorities have been distributing free masks, to protect against ash in the air, while setting up public kitchens for evacuees.

On Monday morning, dozens of evacuees in Lumajang district where Semeru is located, ventured back to their ash-covered homes to retrieve important belongings, before returning to shelters.

The government’s alert level for the volcano was raised to its highest level on Sunday. It had previously reached its second-highest level, since a major eruption in December of last year.

Last year’s eruption killed 51 people and damaged more than 5,000 homes, while forcing nearly 10,000 people to seek refuge.

Many of the victims from that disaster were sand miners, working high on the slopes of the volcano.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – where the meeting of continental plates causes substantial volcanic and seismic activity. The Southeast Asian archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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