Sat 04 December 2021:
Mount Semeru in Indonesia erupted on Saturday, killing at least one person, injuring dozens more, and forcing thousands of people to flee.
Authorities said two more people were missing and eight were trapped in the debris.
After their homes were destroyed by volcanic ash and lava, more than 300 families with children sought refuge in the badly affected Curah Kerobokan village in Lumajang, East Java.
According to local authorities, residents in other nearby villages fled in fear as cold lava and volcanic ash reached their homes.
After a one-hour search, rescuers in Curah Kerobokan discovered a body.
Indonesia’s Semeru volcano erupts.#Indonesia #volcano pic.twitter.com/UfyXwnCM8r
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) December 4, 2021
Lumajang deputy regent Indah Masdar said 41 people suffered serious burns after being hit by hot lava.
Rescuers struggled to find the two missing locals and evacuate eight people trapped in a mud-covered building due to thick debris and knee-high cold lava floods.
Access to Lumajang was also halted after a bridge was destroyed by a cold lava flow, according to the deputy regent.
The national mitigation agency said it had dispatched a team to assist people at shelters, but that they were unable to get there due to thick volcanic ash debris.
Satellite images show volcanic ash entering the Indian Ocean in the southern part of Java island, according to the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.
Mount Semeru, Java’s highest mountain at 3,676 meters, erupted at 3:00 pm local time (0700 GMT) on Saturday, sending locals fleeing for safety, according to a video released by the agency.
Since its previous major eruption in December 2020, Semeru’s alert status has remained at its second-highest level, forcing thousands of people to flee and burying villages.
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of high volcanic and seismic activity caused by the collision of continental plates.
Nearly 130 active volcanoes dot the Southeast Asian archipelago nation.
A volcano in the strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra erupted in late 2018, causing an underwater landslide and tsunami that killed over 400 people.
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