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Authorities say at least 13 people have been killed and 98 injured in Mount Semeru.

Number of people who died later explosion Mount Semeru in Indonesia has risen to 13, authorities said, as rescue workers working all night freed 10 people from the rubble.

In a statement on Sunday, a spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) said two of the 13 people killed in the blast were identified.

The spokesman, Abdul Muhari, said at least 98 people were injured, including two pregnant women, while 902 people were evacuated to villages around Semeru in the eastern part of Java.

Rescuers were searching on the river bank of Curah Kobokan village to find seven people and sand miners missing.

The volcano, located on the predominantly Indonesian island of Java, erupted on Saturday, spewing more than 12 miles (7.5 km) of volcanic ash, sending volcanic air and volcanic activity down into the mountains.

Several villages in Lumajang district in East Java Province were covered with ash.

Photograph taken and released on December 4, 2021, by the Indonesian BNPB shows Mount Semeru evacuating ash from the air during the Lumajang eruption. [Handout BNPB via AFP]

The sudden eruption began with a torrential downpour and rainy days, according to Eko Budi Lelono, head of the geological survey.

He said the rain had washed away and eventually eroded the lava at 3,676 meters (12,060 meters) of Semeru.

Emerging air and lava flowed up to 800 meters (2,624 meters) into the nearby river twice on Saturday, he said.

The BNPB has advised people to live 5 km (3.1 km) from the mouth of the valley.

Thoriqul Haq, a Lumajang government official, said “black ash has turned several villages into darkness” and that blackouts in the region are preventing people from moving.

Haq said debris and lava mixed with rain created huge mudslides that destroyed the main link between Lumajang and the nearby Malang region, as well as a smaller bridge.

The BNPB said it sent aid to the host, including food, tarpaulins, eye masks, and body bags.

People riding a motorcycle over a road covered with volcanic ash from Mount Semeru in Sumberwuluh village, East Java, Indonesia, 4 December 2021 [Antara Foto/Hermawan/via Reuters]

Semeru’s warning remains the second highest since the eruption in December 2020, when it exploded again. forced thousands of people to flee leaving behind cities full of ashes.

There were no casualties at the time.

On Sunday, some people who had fled to a government building near the state capital Lumajang said government officials had not told them what had happened on the mountain.

“All of a sudden it was dark, the bright day turned into night. Noise and heat forced us to rush to the mosque,” said Fatmah, a resident who fled to the Curah Kobokan sanctuary, about 5km (3.1 miles) from the valley. “It was more powerful than in January.”

Indonesia, an island group of more than 270 million people, loves earthquakes and mountains because it sits on the shores of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a series of horse-drawn faults.




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