Aid, masks sent as Bali battles volcano

75,000 flee from island as Mount Agung, 75 kilometres from Kuta resort hub, shows increased activity

Vehicles laden with food, face masks and bedding have been sent to help more than 75,000 people who have fled a volcano on the tourist island of Bali, as the Indonesian president flew in to visit crowded aid centres.

Mount Agung, 75 kilometres from the resort hub of Kuta, has been rumbling since August and threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963 — a potential blow to the country’s lucrative tourism industry.

Increasingly frequent tremors show that the molten magma is still rising towards the surface, with the mountain entering a “critical phase”, said the national disaster mitigation agency.

It said the number fleeing their homes had increased as fears grow that the mountain could blow.

“The local mitigation agency reported that until 12pm Tuesday, the number has reached 75,673 people, spread across 377 evacuation centres in nine districts,” said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

Around 62,000 people lived in the danger zone before the evacuations, according to the agency, but residents just outside the area have also left as a precaution.

“The number is expected to continue to rise,” Nugroho said.

The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said there has been an increase in volcanic tremors, with a total of 564 recorded Monday.

Evacuees have packed into temporary shelters or moved in with relatives. Some 2,000 cows have also been evacuated from the flanks of the volcano.

President Joko Widodo was due to visit crammed evacuation centres in Bali yesterday afternoon.

Balinese residents, international NGOs and the central government have begun organising aid.

Vehicles loaded with noodles, mineral water and blankets have been sent to the evacuation centres, while residents around the island have been collecting donations.