President Joko Widodo visited the blast-hit areas in Lumajang District of East Java Province to reassure people that the government’s response was reaching those in need.
Indonesia’s president on Tuesday visited areas ravaged by a powerful Volcanic eruption that killed at least 22 people And thousands left homeless and vowed that communities would be quickly rebuilt.
Clouds of hot ash rose high in the sky and an avalanche of lava and searing gas swept 11 km (7 mi) down The slopes of Mount Semeru in a sudden eruption Due to heavy rain on Saturday. Tons of volcanic debris filled villages and towns.
President Joko Widodo visited blast affected area To reassure people in Lumajang district of East Java province that the government’s response is reaching those in need.
After visiting survivors in shelters on a soccer field, he pledged to rebuild infrastructure, including the main bridge connecting Lumajang to other cities, and to move more than 2,000 homes out of danger zones.
Officials had earlier said that residents of the most affected villages would be relocated within the next six months and each family waiting for a new home would be provided with 5,00,000 rupees ($34.50) per month as compensation.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said 56 people were hospitalized after the blast, most of them with burns. He said rescue teams were still searching for the 27 villagers who were reported missing. He said around 3,000 houses and 38 schools were damaged.
Cargo planes carrying food, tents, blankets and other items landed on Tuesday for distribution to temporary shelters.
The eruption of the 3,676-metre (12,060-foot) mountain reduced the pressure that was building up under the lava dome in its crater. But experts have warned that the dome could collapse further, causing an avalanche of blistering gas and debris beneath it.
Wayne Suytna, the head of the local search and search operation, said relief workers struggled to clear the debris of the volcano on Tuesday and focused on three locations in the worst-hit Sumbarvuluh village, where people were still believed to be trapped in homes. goes. rescue agency.
“The volcano’s ash deposit is still at high temperatures, and the deeper we dig, the hotter it gets,” Wayne said.
Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted several times over the past 200 years. Yet, as on many of the 129 volcanoes monitored in Indonesia, tens of thousands of people live on its fertile slopes. It last erupted in January, with no casualties.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.
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