Bali volcano ash shuts airport, stranding passengers
The eruption, which began on Thursday, has also forced villagers near the mountain to flee their homes
Ash from a volcanic eruption on the Indonesian resort island of Bali has forced the closure of its international airport and the cancellation of hundreds of flights on Friday, while villagers living beneath rumbling Mount Agung began fleeing their homes.
The eruption, which began on Thursday, fired a towering column of ash 2,500 metres (8,200ft) into the sky, and reddish flames lit up the volcano’s crater overnight.
Indonesia’s second-busiest airport will stay shut until at least 7pm local time on Friday, with 85 international flights and 191 domestic flights cancelled, affecting nearly 16,000 people, airport authorities said.
There was no indication of how long the eruption might last, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the disaster mitigation agency said in a statement, and the alert level on the volcano remains unchanged for now.
“Micro tremors are still being detected … indicating that magma is moving towards the surface,” Nugroho said.
Mount Agung, in northeastern Bali, has erupted with various intensities since late last year and in December the airport was also closed for a period and thousands of residents were evacuated closer to the volcano.