Indonesia volcano eruption claims “at least 10” lives
“At least 10” people have been killed by a volcanic eruption in the East of Indonesia in the early hours of Monday, 4th November, according to officials. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted at 23:57 local time, the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMG) has revealed.
Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for PVMG said that fiery lava and rocks hit villages some 4km or two miles from the crater. The homes of residents were burned and damaged as a result. Local officials reported that seven villages had been affected by the volcano.
PVMG raised the volcano’s status to its highest alert level, warning that a 7km or four mile radius from the crater needed to be cleared. “We have started evacuating residents since this morning to other villages located around 20km (13 miles) from the crater,” local official Heronimus Lamawuran told Reuters.
Video footage shared with BBC News from eyewitnesses revealed people covered in volcanic ash, rock “showers, and blazing homes. The scorched aftermath was also shown in the video.
A spokesperson from the disaster agency of Indonesia warned of the potential of flash floods and cold lava flows over the coming days. Local government, they added, had declared a state of emergency for the next 58 days. This means that the central government of Indonesia could help in supplying aid to 10,000 affected people.
Indonesia is one of the countries along the Pacific “Ring of Fire” which is an areas of high seismic activity on top of multiple tectonic plates.
The most recent eruption follows a “series” of eruptions in the area. In May, the island of Halmahera’s Mount Ibu, resulted in seven villages being evacuated.
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