"No Warning": Indonesian Village Caught In Volcano Disaster That Killed 34
NDTV
The eruption of Java's tallest mountain has raised questions about the effectiveness of Indonesia's disaster warning system, and the dangers of rebuilding on the volcano's fertile but precarious slopes.
In the wake of the deadly Semeru eruption on Indonesia's Java island, the entwined bodies of a mother and daughter encased in molten ash have come to symbolise what many living in the shadow of the volcano feel went wrong.
"There was no warning. If there had been, there wouldn't have been victims, right?" said Minah, of her cousin Rumini, who died clutching her elderly mother as their kitchen roof caved in. Like many Indonesians, they use only one name.
Nestled at the base of volcano, their village of Curah Kobokan was among the worst-hit when Semeru spectacularly erupted on Saturday, ejecting ash clouds and pyroclastic flows that killed 43 people and left dozens missing.
The eruption of Java's tallest mountain has raised questions about the effectiveness of Indonesia's disaster warning system, and the dangers of rebuilding on the volcano's fertile but precarious slopes.
