Gulf Today

Indonesian rescuers evacuate thousands after volcano erupts

There are no reports of deaths or injuries but authoritie­s say they are rushing to evacuate more than 11,000 residents from the area around Tagulandan­g, home to about 20,000 people

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Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people on Thursday ater a volcano erupted five times, forcing authoritie­s to close a nearby airport and issue a warning that the crater collapsing into the sea could cause a tsunami.

Mount Ruang’s crater flamed with lava against a backdrop of lightning bolts overnight ater eruptions pushed an ash column more than a mile into the sky and forced authoritie­s to raise their alert to the highest level of a four-tiered system.

Taka, a local fisherman who only gave one name, was at sea helping people to safety by boat when the crater unleashed a fiery orange column.

“There was a mix of fire and rocks. Lava flowed in various directions,” he told reporters.

The volcano sits on a remote island in Indonesia’s outermost region and has a peak 725 metres (2,380 feet) above sea level. It was still billowing a column of smoke up to 800 metres high on Thursday morning, officials said.

Houses on Tagulandan­g, another remote island nearby, were riddled with holes from falling volcanic rocks on Thursday, rescuers said, and residents were preparing to leave at least temporaril­y.

“The road condition... is covered by volcanic material,” rescuer Ikram Al Ulah told reporters by phone from the Tagulandan­g seaport.

“Many people are still wandering around. Maybe to evacuate precious goods from their house.”

There were no reports of deaths or injuries but authoritie­s said they were rushing to evacuate more than 11,000 residents from the area around Tagulandan­g, home to about 20,000 people.

Tourists and residents were warned to remain outside a six-kilometre exclusion zone.

Some residents were already trying to flee in a panic, according to officials.

“People evacuated on their own... due to the volcano’s eruption and small rocks that fell,” local search and rescue agency official Jandry Paendong said in a statement on Thursday.

“The people scatered to find evacuation routes.”

He said 20 staff were helping evacuate residents along the coastline near the volcano on rubber boats. Authoritie­s also evacuated a prison on Tagulandan­g, ferrying 17 inmates along with 11 officials and 19 residents by boat to Likupang seaport in northern Sulawesi island, according to Ikram.

More than 800 people were initially taken from Ruang to Tagulandan­g ater the first eruptions overnight Tuesday, before further eruptions on Wednesday prompted evacuation­s from that wider zone.

Those displaced gathered at temporary shelters on Tagulandan­g and were given mats, blankets and masks by authoritie­s.

The navy sent a warship to deliver aid and help the evacuation effort, it said Thursday, while North Sulawesi police sent dozens of officers.

The warship evacuated 195 people from Tagulandan­g to Bitung, a coastal city in North Sulawesi, on Thursday evening, a navy spokespers­on told reporters.

Authoritie­s also warned of a possible tsunami as a result of the eruptions.

“The communitie­s in Tagulandan­g island (need) to be on alert for... (a) tsunami caused by the collapse of the volcano’s body into the sea,” volcanolog­y agency head Hendra Gunawan said in a statement on Wednesday.

The authoritie­s’ fears were compounded by previous experience.

The crater of Mount Anak Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra islands partly collapsed in 2018 when a major eruption sent huge chunks of the volcano sliding into the ocean, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured thousands.

Indonesia, a vast archipelag­o nation, experience­s frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Mount Ruang’s eruption led to the closure of Sam Ratulangi Internatio­nal Airport in Manado city, located more than 100 kilometres from the volcano, until midnight on Thursday.

The airport hosts airlines that fly to Singapore, South Korea and China.

Budget airline Airasia said it also cancelled flights to and from nine airports in eastern Malaysia and Brunei until Friday morning.

 ?? Agence France-presse ?? ↑ A member of Basarnas talks to residents in Sitaro, North Sulawesi as the Mount Ruang volcano is seen in the background spewing smoke on Thursday.
Agence France-presse ↑ A member of Basarnas talks to residents in Sitaro, North Sulawesi as the Mount Ruang volcano is seen in the background spewing smoke on Thursday.

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