Airports reopen after volcano eruption
Print Edition
Three airports in Indonesia reopened yesterday while four others remained closed, officials said, after a volcanic eruption killed three people and forced mass evacuations.
Mount Kelud, considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the main island of Java, spewed red-hot ash and rocks high into the air late Thursday night just hours after its alert status was raised.
“The airports in Malang City in East Java province, and Cilacap and Semarang cities in Central Java province have reopened. There’s no problem flying there now. We are now evaluating the status of other airports,” Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said.
Seven airports — including those serving international flights in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Solo and Bandung — were forced to close on Friday due to thick ash that blanketed eastern Javanese cities.
Ervan said the airports in Bandung and Surabaya were expected to reopen later yesterday, while the airport in Solo may reopen tomorrow and the one in Yogyakarta on Tuesday.
On Friday villagers in eastern Java described the terror of volcanic materials raining down on their homes. Residents covered in grey dust were reported fleeing in cars and on motorbikes towards evacuation centers.
The volcano spewed smoke 3,000 meters into the sky yesterday, National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, but added that “volcanic activity showed a slowing trend.”
Transport Ministry director general of aviation Herry Bakti said the authorities “will continue to monitor the movement of ash in the air via satellite.”
“We were informed by the volcanology agency this morning that no more powerful eruptions are expected. So it is safe to fly and flights can resume. We will issue an update via notice to airmen,” he said.
Three people were killed and around 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate following the eruption, though some families ignored the orders and others have returned home, with just over 75,000 now in temporary shelters, officials said.
The 1,731m Mount Kelud has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 1500, including 10,000 deaths in an eruption in 1568.
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