Indonesia evacuating thousands after volcano erupts, causes tsunami threat
MANADO,Indonesia:Indonesian rescuers raced to evacuate thousands of people yesterday after a volcano erupted five times, forcing authorities to close a nearby airport and issue a warning about falling debris that could cause a tsunami.
Mount Ruang's crater flamed with lava against a backdrop of lightning bolts overnight after erupting four times on Wednesday, pushing an ash column more than a mile into the sky and forcing authorities to raise its alert level to the highest 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 AFP.
The volcano, which sits on a remote island in Indonesia's outermost region with a peak 725 metres above sea level, was still billowing a column of smoke up to 800 metres high on yesterday morning, officials said.
Houses on the neighbouring remote island of Tagulandang were riddled with holes from falling volcanic rocks yesterday, rescuers said, and residents were preparing to leave at least temporarily.
"The current condition, particularly the road condition, is covered by volcanic material," local rescuer Ikram Al Ulah told AFP by phone from the Tagulandang seaport.
"Currently, 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 around 20,000 people.
Some residents were already trying to flee in a panic, according to officials.
"People evacuated on their own but without direction due to the volcano's eruption and ... small rocks that fell," local search and rescue agency official Jandry Paendong said in a statement.
"The people scattered 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 island, ferrying 17 inmates along with 11 officials and 19 residents by boat to Likupang seaport in northern Sulawesi island, according to Ikram.
The evacuation was requested by the prison chief because the facility sits directly across from the volcano, said the rescuer.
Tourists and residents were warned to remain outside a sixkilometre exclusion zone.
More than 800 people were initially taken from Ruang to Tagulandang after the first eruption on Tuesday evening, before four more eruptions on Wednesday prompted evacuations from that island.
Authorities also warned of a possible tsunami as a result of the eruptions.
"The communities in Tagulandang island... (need) to be on alert for the potential ejection of incandescent rocks, hot clouds discharges and tsunami caused by the collapse of the volcano's body into the sea," volcanology agency head Hendra Gunawan said in a statement Wednesday.
The authorities' fears were compounded by previous experience.