Deadly night: Indonesian volcano throws fireballs at sleeping villages
Night-time eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in Indonesia leads to multiple deaths and mass evacuation. Twin volcano on Flores island forces thousands to flee as flames and ash cover nearby areas
A sudden volcanic blast in eastern Indonesia has left at least 10 people dead after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted multiple times during night-time hours (the twin-peaked volcano stands 1‚703 metres high and sits on tourist-friendly Flores island)
I was asleep when suddenly the bed shook twice‚ as if someone had slammed it Then I realised the volcano had erupted‚ so I ran outside
The disaster affected over 10‚000 locals; with ash-covered villages and fire-damaged buildings becoming common sights in the area. Abdul Muhari from the BNPB confirmed these numbers at a press-meet
Safety measures now include:
- No activities within 7km of crater
- Mandatory mask-wearing for locals
- Watch for possible lava floods
- Stay alert for more eruptions
The volcano-monitoring team raised warning levels to maximum; noting big changes in the mountains behavior. This isnt the first trouble from this peak - back in January it forced about 2‚000 people to move away
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire which explains its frequent volcanic action: the countrys position makes it prone to earth-shaking events and fire-spewing mountains
