‘IMMINENT’ ERUPTION
BALI VOLCANO PROMPTS MASS EVACUATIONS.
Tourists were stuck in limbo Monday as an “imminent” eruption on the island of Bali saw more than 440 flights cancelled, with holidaymakers facing a night’s sleep on airport floors.
The panic began when Mount Agung spurted clouds of grey and white ash across the Indonesian island, prompting fears it was on the verge of its first major eruption in more than 50 years.
As the ash clouds reached heights of almost 3,000 metres, with glowing magma visible at the peak, 40,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area.
Disaster agency workers said that a total of 100,000 people would need to be evacuated, while officials warned the island was on “maximum alert.”
Chantal Desjardins, a Montreal- based media personality and standup comic, was due to fly out from the island Tuesday.
Desjardins said local reports suggested the biggest eruption was yet to come, so the situation was “getting a little bit real now.”
She was at a hotel about 70 kilometres away, and there was no word on evacuating her area.
Desjardins said according to her airline, the earliest she’ll be able to leave is next Tuesday.
“We were supposed to l eave t omorrow and we found out all of the airlines are cancelled and the first flight out is going to be December 5th,” Desjardins said. “So my holiday just got extended by a little bit.”
In the early hours of Monday morning, the airport’s closure was extended by a further 24 hours, as officials warned the risk of an eruption had reached maximum level.
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said that the volcano’s eruptions were magmatic, meaning that lava has been forced to the surface. “We really ask people in the danger zone to evacuate immediately because there’s a potential for a bigger eruption,” it said.
Video f ootage showed trails of volcanic mud running down the hillside. These can collect debris and rocks which can destroy houses and roads. Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre told Reuters that a large eruption could send rocks bigger than fists up to eight kilometres away and volcanic gas to a distance of almost ten kilometres within three minutes.
Global Affairs Canada said 403 Canadians in Bali have registered with its Registration of Canadians Abroad service.
“As registration is voluntary, this is not necessarily a complete picture of Canadians in the region,” Global Affairs spokeswoman Brianne Maxwell said in an email.
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about five million visitors a year.