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Indonesia volcano erupts; 100,000 evacuated, most of Java’s airports shut

More than 100,000 people fled their homes and flights were grounded across most of Indonesia’s densely populated island of Java on Friday after a volcanic eruption sent a huge plume of ash and sand 17 km (10 miles) into the air, Reuters reports.

The ash cloud from Thursday night’s eruption of Mount Kelud in the province of East Java moved west over the island, forcing the closure of seven airports and stranding thousands of passengers. The only major airports still operating on Java were two in the capital, Jakarta.

“Over 100,000 people have been evacuated and about 200,000 people were affected,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said.

Mount Kelud is 90 km south of Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya, a major industrial centre. Its airport was closed, along with those of Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Malang, Semarang and the major oil refinery town of Cilacap.

Mount Kelud is one of 130 active volcanoes in the world’s fourth most populous country, which sits along the “Ring of Fire” volcanic belt around the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

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