Mount Semeru, Indonesia: Volcanic eruption caught world’s attention
Lumajang, Indonesia:
Ten people trapped after Indonesia’s Semeru volcano erupted have been rescued, the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) said on Sunday, as the death toll from the disaster rose to at least 13 and dozens were injured.
Semeru, the highest mountain on the island of Java, threw towers of ash and hot clouds on Saturday, flooding villages around East Java province and leaving people in panic.
Officials said the blast broke a strategic bridge connecting two areas of nearby Lumajang district with Malang city and destroyed buildings.
BNPB official Abdul Muhri said in a news release that 13 people were killed after the blast, two of whom have been identified. The statement said that 98 including two pregnant women were injured and 902 have been evacuated safely.
Thorikul Haque, a local official in Lumajang, said earlier that the sand miners were trapped around their work sites.
The BNPB said at least 35 people were hospitalized, while Lumajang’s deputy chief said 41 people suffered burns.
Semeru, more than 3,600 meters (12,000 ft) high, is one of about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. It exploded in January, causing no casualties.
Indonesia is surrounded by the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active region where various plates on the Earth’s crust meet and generate a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Separately, a magnitude 6 earthquake struck north of Halmahera on Sunday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC) said. Halmahera is about 2,000 km (1,200 mi) northeast of Semeru.
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