Villages are blanketed in ash, and Bali airport has canceled several international flights after the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted.

Smoke plumes from Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Frida

A volcanic eruption on Indonesia’s eastern island of Flores expelled a column of ash over 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) high, prompting evacuations and flight cancellations.

The Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano in the archipelago’s East Nusa Tenggara province erupted on Thursday evening, with two other eruptions recorded into Friday, according to Indonesia’s Geological Agency.

On Friday, thick, gray clouds could still be observed coming from the volcano’s crater. Several flights between Australia and Indonesia’s popular tourist island of Bali, which is nearly 800 kilometers away, have been canceled by airlines.

As of 9:45 a.m. local time (0145 GMT) Friday, “seven international flights had been cancelled, six of them are Jetstar flights bound to Australia and one Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur,” Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport spokesman, Andadina Dyah, said in a statement.

Passengers consult a flight information board at Bali airport on Friday Passengers consult a flight information board at Bali airport on Friday

Situation remains dangerous

Authorities have raised the eruption alert to the highest level and imposed an exclusion zone between 7 kilometers and 8 kilometers (4.3-5 miles) around the volcano.

Indonesia’s disaster management agency said Friday the local government has declared a 14-day emergency, and is coordinating response efforts.

Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said more than 4,700 residents have been evacuated as of Friday. Locals who were working on a plantation at the time of the eruption told the Associated Press several people were burned by falling ash.

In the upcoming days, residents have been warned to remain vigilant of heavy rainfall turning into volcanic mudslides.

Nine people were killed and dozens more injured when the 1,703-meter volcano erupted in November.

Indonesia — which has nearly 130 active volcanoes — is situated on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is the most geologically active zone on Earth.

Edited by: Sean Sinico

DW News