Environment     

Death toll climbs after Indonesian volcano eruption

Xinhua, February 19, 2014

• The death toll from Mount Kelud volcano eruption on Thursday night in East Java climbed to seven, with 31 others suffering from serious injury, official said on Tuesday.

  Risk assessment over the impact of the powerful eruption that shot column of ash 17,000 meters high to the sky persists, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster agency said.

  Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has visited the catastrophe-affected people and on Tuesday ordered them to remain in shelters as the red alert threat level keeps in place.

  Sutopo said that as many as 1,392 others had had minor wounds as 3,782 buildings, including health facilities, religious buildings and education facilities, were damaged.

  The outpours of ashes, gravels and sands also destroyed clean water facilities, damaged about 7,000 hectares of agricultural plantations, he told Xinhua via phone.

  President Yudhoyono flying to the affected-areas days after the eruption. He warned the evacuees over the danger of returning home too early as it was witnessed by the evacuees of Mount Sinabung volcano in North Sumatra to have claimed 17 lives recently.

  "Please do not return home at the time it should not be done. There is going to be new danger and we do not want it," said Yudhoyono.

  More than 100,000 people had been forced to flee home to escape the eruption of Mount Kelud, but many of them returned home days later, bringing the total displaced persons to about 57,000 in the shelters now, according to Sutopo.

  The ashes and sands were spread to the westernmost of Java Island, forcing the transport authority to shut most of airports in the island and warned flight to re-route pathway near Kelud volcano. Up to Tuesday airports already resumed operation.

  The last volcanic eruption of Mount Kelud occurred in 2007 and its strongest eruption took place in 1919 and claimed 55 lives.

  Mount Kelud is among 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia.

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