Indonesia’s Mount Semeru: At least 13 dead after volcano erupts
Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) said in a statement Sunday the eruption had wounded 98 others, including two pregnant women, after it covered villages with ash and left people to run from billowing clouds of debris.
At least 300 families were evacuated following the eruption, according to Indah Amperawati, deputy head of Lumajang District, an area close to the volcano.
In its statement Sunday, the BNPB said search and rescue efforts were ongoing, but did not specify the number of people who were still reported missing.
Officials say the situation at Mount Semeru remains dangerous due to the risk of pyroclastic flows — a mix of ash, rock and volcanic gases that can be much more dangerous than lava.
“We recommend everyone to increase their alert because the potential of pyroclastic flows threat is still high. It can happen anytime without any warning,” Chief of the Mount Semeru Observation Post, Liswanto, told CNN Sunday.
Liswanto said on Sunday his team recorded two pyroclastic flow events. The first was at 5 a.m. local and second one was at 10 a.m. local time. The deadly volcanic material was rolling down to Curah Kobokan village, which was evacuated on Saturday.
They have urged people living up to 6 miles away from the volcano to evacuate as pyroclastic flows “is very hot, the temperature can reach more than 1000 Celsius,” Liswanto said.
Since there is no sign or method to predict when the pyroclastic flow will occur, the phenomenon can be very dangerous, Liswanto said.
Ongoing evacuations
One rescue volunteer in Indonesia’s Lumajang district told CNN Sunday that he and his team evacuated the bodies of six miners from a river in Curah Kobokan village, where they were mining sand in the river bank.
Some of the miners were still inside their trucks, while others were discovered laying on the ground near the trucks, said 32-year-old volunteer Muhammad Firman Adiguna Effasa. It is unclear if those six deaths are part of the 13 deaths that authorities announced earlier.
He added he was worried that more miners or other victims could be still out there but won’t survive because the lava flood was so intense.
Authorities have converted schools, mosques, village halls and village houses into evacuation centers, the statement said.
Lumajang District deputy head Indah said that most of the burn victims have been evacuated to the Penanggal Primarily Health Center alongside a resident who died in the village of Curah Kobokan.
Emergency services have been unable to reach several other villages due to roads being blocked by mud and fallen trees, Indah told the press conference.
The military has been asked for people and equipment to support rescue efforts, Maj. Gen. TNI Suharyanto, the head of the BNPB, told the press conference.
After arriving at the scene on Sunday, Suharyanton said gathering information about the number of victims and those displaced has been difficult, and that the exact number of casualties and displaced…
Read More: Indonesia’s Mount Semeru: At least 13 dead after volcano erupts