Volcanic eruption in Indonesia leaves at least 10 people dead

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said Monday that at least 10 people have died as a series of volcanic eruptions widens on the remote island of Flores.

The eruption at Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki just after midnight on Monday spewed thick, brownish ash as high as 2,000 metres into the air and hot ashes hit a nearby village, burning down several houses, including a convent of Catholic nuns, said Firman Yosef, an official at the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki monitoring post.

Rescuers were still searching for more bodies buried under collapsed houses, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency's spokesperson. Muhari said all the bodies, including that of a child, were found within a four-kilometre radius of the crater.

Authorities also raised the danger level and widened the danger zone for Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki on Monday, following a series of eruptions that began last week.

The country's volcano monitoring agency increased the volcano's alert status to the highest level and more than doubled the exclusion zone to a seven-kilometre radius after midnight on Monday as eruptions became more frequent.

Volcanic material was thrown up to six kilometres from its crater, according to Yosef, blanketing nearby villages and towns with volcanic debris and forcing residents to flee.

A nun in Hokeng village died and another was missing, said Agusta Palma, the head of the Saint Gabriel Foundation, which oversees convents on the majority-Catholic island.

"Our nuns ran out in panic under a rain of volcanic ash in the darkness," Palma said.

Photos and videos circulated on social media showed tons of volcanic debris covering houses up to their rooftops in villages like Hokeng, where hot volcanic material set fire to houses.

The agency said at least 10,000 people have been affected by the eruption in Wulanggitang District, in the six nearby villages of Pululera, Nawokote, Hokeng Jaya, Klatanlo, Boru and Boru Kedang.

In Ile Bura District, four villages were affected, namely Dulipali Village, Nobo, Nurabelen and Riang Rita, while in Titehena District it also affected four villages, namely Konga Village, Kobasoma, Bokang Wolomatang and Watowara.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province known locally as the husband — "Laki laki" means man — and wife mountains. Its mate is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman.

About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island's Frans Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed since then due to seismic activity.

In a video conference on Monday, Muhammad Wafid, the head of the Geology Agency at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said there was a different character to January's eruption compared to Monday's eruption, due to a blockage of magma in the crater, which reduced detectable seismic activity while building up pressure.