JAKARTA– Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province, erupted yesterday, injuring several villagers, as a bridge and many houses were damaged during evacuation, officials said.

“Several people are suffering wounds, as they panicked when escaping the eruption. They have been rushed to health clinics,” the Lumajang District Police’s Chief, Eka Yekti Hananto, said.

Coordinator of the Volcano Disaster Mitigation of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), Kristianto, said that, the spread of the hot clouds was about five km to the south-east of the crater.

“The hot clouds tend to spread above the surface of several rivers, the lowest grounds, as they were affected by gravitation,” the official said.

“This is dangerous for those having activities on rivers, such as sand miners,” Kristianto said.

Kristianto added that, the height of the volcanic ash could not be observed, as the volcano was covered by clouds, but he forecast, it ranged between 200 and 500 metres into the sky.

The volcanic materials spewed by the volcano, amid heavy downpours, have created thick mud, hampering mobility of the PVMBG’s officials in monitoring the volcano, Kristianto said.

Local disaster agency officials immediately urged the sand miners along the rivers, to evacuate, as the hot clouds were spotted, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency’s acting spokesperson.

He said, the monitoring post reported that the hot clouds started spreading from the crater at 3:10 p.m. Jakarta time (8:10 a.m. GMT).

The evacuation of villagers living on the slope of the volcano is under way now, and several evacuation centres have been established, he said in a statement.

Risk assessment of the impacts of the eruption is being carried out, according to him.

The eruption damaged a bridge and scores of houses, said the Lumajang District Head, Thoriqul Hag.

“One bridge collapsed. There is one sub-district where villagers have to be evacuated,” the district head said, adding, evacuation could be hampered due to damaged transport facility.

A village affected by the eruption could not be accessed due to hot lava, said Andi A Wibowo, commander of the Lumajang District Command.

The village is passed by the Kobokan river where miners were mining. More than 100 soldiers have been deployed to help the evacuation, Wibowo told the local television station.

He received reports that two people went missing and another one suffered wounds, caused by hot clouds.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK