Google – AFP, 12 November 2013
This
picture taken on November 11, 2013 shows villagers taking a military truck
as
they flee their homes to a shelter, at the Guru Kinayan village in Karo
(AFP/File,
Kharisma Tarigan)
|
Jakarta —
More than 5,000 people have fled their homes in western Indonesia in recent
days following a series of violent volcanic eruptions, an official said
Tuesday.
Mount
Sinabung on the north of Sumatra island has been hurling out red-hot ash, rocks
and torrents of glowing lava up to seven kilometres (four miles) into the air
since the start of the month.
Villagers
from nearby Karo district are being evacuated as the volcano, which erupted in
September for the first time since 2010, continues to spew ash and rocks.
Sinabung
volcano erupts and spews hot
smoke in Karo on November 10, 2013
(AFP/ File,
Kharisma Tarigan)
|
"They
were all very scared as the volcano has not shown signs of slowing down."
Although
the government has called for people living within three kilometres (1.9 miles)
of the volcano to be evacuated, Peranginangin said those living beyond the
danger zone were also fleeing their homes.
"They
just don't feel safe and are panicking. They prefer to stay in shelters, like
mosques and churches," he said, adding the number of evacuees was expected
to go up.
National
disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the volcano erupted again
early Tuesday, spewing clouds of hot gas, although the eruption was smaller
than on previous days.
Indonesia
has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known
as the "Ring of Fire" between the Pacific and Indian oceans.
In August
five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a tiny island
in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted.
The
country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than
350 people in a series of violent eruptions in 2010.
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