2023-12-03 19:21:00
AFP
Volcanic eruption in Indonesia: ashes 3 km high, hikers wanted
A volcano in western Indonesia erupted on Sunday, projecting a column of ash about three kilometers into the sky and forcing authorities to rescue dozens of hikers. Ash ejected from Mount Marapi , whose eruption is still ongoing, were observed up to 3,000 meters above its summit, said Hendra Gunawan, head of the Indonesian Center for Vulcanology and Geological Hazards. The eruption, on the island of Sumatra, began at 2:54 p.m. (07:54 GMT), and has so far caused no casualties or damage.”We can observe this very intense column of ash, dark gray, tilting towards the east “, Mr. Gunawan said in a statement, adding that “neither people who live around the volcano nor tourists have the right to enter within a radius of three kilometers around the crater.” But a total of 70 people had been recorded as having entered this area on Saturday and Sunday morning, and 42 of them had still not been located at the end of the day.”Our teams are in the process of evacuating everyone. We have found and evacuated 28 people and continue to search for the others. We hope they are all unharmed,” said West Sumatra Natural Resources Protection Agency head Dian Indriati. Some hikers, however, do not report their entry or exit from the area, and the number of people still there is therefore uncertain. Zhafirah Zahrim Febrina, a 19-year-old student, was one of the hikers still descending from the mountain on Sunday. Her mother, Rani Radelani, posted a video of her online girl who is seen covered in ashes and crying for help.”She said she has no strength left. She had been hiking since Friday,” her mother told AFP. “She is coming back down with her friends.” Rescue teams were deployed to help the hikers get to safety, said the “West Sumatra Natural Resources Management Agency.” Agency teams are carrying out evacuations. We hope that there are no deaths and that everyone is safe,” said Dian Indriati, director of the agency. Ade Setiawan, head of the local disaster agency, said in a statement that residents of surrounding villages had received masks and were reminded to stay inside their homes. Marapi, 2,891 meters high and whose name means “the mountain of fire”, is the volcano the most active in Sumatra. It is currently, according to the authorities, at the third alert level, on a scale of four.”The ash rain has now reached the town of Bukittinggi”, the third town in Sumatra with more than 100,000 inhabitants, announced Ahmad Rifandi, a manager of the Mount Marapi monitoring station, adding that residents of the city who had to go out were advised to wear “hats, glasses and masks”. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes significant volcanic and seismic activity. The country has nearly 130 active volcanoes. mrc-jfx/ecl/ia/mm/fio
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