Flights cancelled, thousands evacuated after Indonesia volcano eruption

“The ash column was observed grey to black with thick intensity,” Indonesia’s volcanology agency said in a statement about the eruption, which began at around 11:00 pm on Thursday.

Volcanic ash from the eruption blanketed several nearby villages on Friday.

At least two people were injured, including a man whose roof collapsed under volcanic debris, a local official said.

The agency warned residents of the risk of volcanic mudflows due to heavy rainfall.

The long eruption prompted the country’s geological agency to raise the volcano’s alert level to the highest of the four-tiered system.

Authorities imposed an exclusion zone between seven and eight kilometres (four to five miles) around the volcano, the agency added.

In November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

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

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© Agence France-Presse