Volcano eruption in Indonesia leaves at least 14 dead and 56 injured

The eruption of volcano Semeru, in the east of the island of Java, in the Indonesia, left at least 14 dead and dozens injured this Saturday, 4. According to the spokesman for the rescue agency, Abdul Muhari, the incident left 56 injured, 41 of them with burns. At least seven people are still missing, of which two may still be alive, said Lumajang police spokesman Adi Hendro. “There are signs of life, such as lights, that could be coming from their cell phones. But we can’t get to them because the ground is still too hot. We also need to guarantee the safety of our teams”, he explained. Search operations were temporarily suspended this Sunday morning, 5, due to clouds of ash. About a dozen people who were trapped in a mine as a result of the incident were rescued. Some houses and cars were completely buried and around 900 people had to spend the night in shelters. In addition, the eruption destroyed at least one bridge in Lumajang, making it difficult for rescuers to work.

Authorities urged residents not to go closer than 5 km to the crater because of the air saturated with ash dust in the area. Mount Semeru, the highest peak in Java, reaches 3,676 meters. Its last major eruption was in December 2020, causing thousands of people to flee and covering entire villages. Since that episode, authorities have kept the volcano’s alert level at its second-highest level. Indonesia lies in the Pacific ‘Circle of Fire’, where the meeting of the continental plates causes high seismic activity. This Southeast Asian archipelago has nearly 130 active volcanoes in its territory. In late 2018, a volcano eruption between the islands of Java and Sumatra caused an underwater earthquake and tsunami, killing nearly 400 people.

*With information from AFP