Indonesian authorities ordered 100,000 people to flee on Monday as a volcano erupted in Bali, forcing the closure of the island’s international airport and stranding large numbers of passengers.
Mount Agung has been spewing clouds of white and dark gray ash about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) into the atmosphere since the weekend, and the crater is spewing lava that is sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash clouds. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometers (7 1/2 miles) away.
Videos released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed flows of volcanic debris mud and water known as lahar moving down the volcano’s slopes. She said the floods could increase as it is the rainy season and warned people to stay away from rivers.
The agency raised the alert for the volcano to its highest level early Monday, expanding the danger zone to 10 kilometers (6 miles) in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometers. He said a bigger eruption was possible.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a press conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people had been evacuated, but others had not left because they felt unsafe or did not want to leave their livestock.
Bali’s airport was closed early on Monday after ash that could pose a deadly threat to aircraft arrived in its airspace.
As tourists flocked to crowded airports to catch their flights, flight information boards showed queues of cancellations.
A spokesman for Air Asanuluchim Airport said 445 flights were canceled and about 59,000 passengers were stranded. The closure was in effect until Tuesday morning, although officials said the situation would be reviewed every six hours. It had a ripple effect across Indonesia and caused delays at other airports as Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is a national hub with many transit flights.
