Ten people trapped in a sand mine after the Semeru volcano erupted in Indonesia on Saturday were evacuated to safety, but the disaster toll rises to at least thirteen dead and dozens injured on Sunday .
The Semeru, the highest mountain on the island of Java, projected around 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. French time), towers of ash and hot clouds that blanketed neighboring villages and caused panic movements among the inhabitants plunged into darkness in the middle of the afternoon.
16.50
BPBD Provinsi Jatim dan BPBD Lumajang telah menuju lokasi untuk melakukan assesment dan evakuasi warga di sekitar Gunung Semeru.
Silahkan mention jika ada yang dilokasi @ PRB_BNPB pic.twitter.com/DYj8qIW23u
- jogjaupdate.com (@JogjaUpdate) December 4, 2021
At least eleven villages in Lumajang District were covered with a thick layer of ash, which almost completely buried some homes and vehicles, and killed livestock.
Some 900 people had to go to shelters and mosques to stay overnight.
In the village of Sumber Wuluh, ash buried trucks and homes.
REUTERS / Antara Foto / Zabur Karuru
Ninety-eight people were injured, including two pregnant women, and 902 were evacuated, according to the latest statement from the disaster management agency.
Most injuries are burns.
Rescuers continue this Sunday to search the areas covered with ash.
Their work is complicated by the rupture of a strategic bridge connecting two areas of the Lumajang district to the city of Malang and the hot and suffocating clouds that emerge from the ashes.
Heavy rains also turned debris into mud, hampering evacuation efforts.
A thick gray layer
Authorities have asked residents not to approach within 5 km of the crater because the air saturated with ash dust in the area is dangerous for vulnerable people.
In the Sumberwuluh area, damaged houses were covered with a thick gray coating, as volunteers tried to turn back motorists who wanted to return to their homes near Semeru.
Puluhan rumah di Kampung Renteng, Desa Sumber Wuluh, Kecamatan Candipuro, Lumajang, terendam abu erupsi Gunung Semeru.
Ketinggian abu dan pasir vulcanik sekitar 4 meter.
Sumber: Relawan dan BPBD Lumajang pic.twitter.com/5HlF4gj3Of
- PRB Indonesia BNPB (Disaster Risk Reduction) (@PRB_BNPB) December 5, 2021
Food aid, masks and body bags were sent to the scene.
Mount Semeru is one of 130 active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago, located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire". It rises to 3,676 meters above sea level. Gray volcano, it sends out a small plume of smoke regularly, but its lava does not flow. Its last major eruption dates back to last January, it also caused the flight of thousands of people and covered entire villages. The authorities had maintained since the alert level of the volcano to the second highest. No casualties had been identified, unlike the earthquake that struck the island of Celebes at the same time.
The Volcanic Ash Information Center (VAAC) in Darwin, Australia, said the ash appeared to have loosened from the summit and was drifting southwest over the Indian Ocean.
The VAAC provides advice to the aviation industry on potentially hazardous movements for aircraft.
VAAC meteorologist Campbell Biggs assured the BBC that airlines had been warned that the ash cloud rose to 50,000 feet (15,000 m), which is above the cruise altitude of the most planes, which should cause them to deviate from their trajectories further north.
Ash that solidifies on colder parts of aircraft engines can disrupt airflow and lead to failure.
