The Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java region erupted on Saturday, blasting large clouds of smoke and ash, killing at least one person and injuring scores more, officials said.
Residents fleeing in panic as rising smoke and ash enveloped some adjacent villages in Lumajang district, according to videos posted on Saturday by the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB).
Indah Masdar, the deputy chief of the Lumajang district, informed a press conference that one person had died and 41 others had sustained burn injuries.
Later, the BNPB reported that 35 victims were being treated at nearby hospitals.
Indah requested aircraft to assist in the rescue of persons trapped in structures.
“We’re in big distress,” she said, adding there were at least 10 people trapped. “It’s harrowing, their families are all crying.”
A number of sand miners were stranded near mines, according to Lumajang district director Thoriqul Haq.
The road and bridge between Lumajang and the adjoining city of Malang were severed, according to Haq.
“This has been a very pressing, rapid condition since it erupted,” he said. Haq added that evacuations were under way.
He later told a Tv channel that the bridge had been severed, leaving one local district without access to medical assistance.
“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” Haq told TV One, adding that several hundred people were moved to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas.
According to BNPB chairman Suharyanto, authorities were erecting evacuation tents, but evacuations were impeded by dense smoke.
People running in terror under a massive ash cloud, their faces soaked from rain mixed with volcanic dust, were seen on television.
The Indonesian air traffic control agency, AirNav Indonesia, claimed in a statement that the eruption had no “major impact” on aircraft.
Among Indonesia’s almost 130 active volcanoes is the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) Semeru, which is the highest on the country’s most densely inhabited island. It erupted in January, but no one was killed.
