Death Toll Rises to 14 in Indonesia Volcano Eruption

LUMAJANG, KOMPAS.com — The death toll following the eruption of the highest volcano on Indonesia’s Java island has risen to 14, with seven people still missing, officials said Sunday, December 5 as smoldering debris and thick mud hampered search efforts.

“Another villager died from severe burns, bringing the death toll to 14 on Sunday. Before, 13 villagers have died,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari told a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

He said that 56 people have been injured, including 35 in severe burns.

He also said rescuers were still searching for seven residents and sand miners along a river in Curah Kobokan village who were reported missing.

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Entire houses in the village were damaged by volcanic debris and more than 900 people fled to temporary government shelters, Muhari said.

Mount Semeru in Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash more than 12,000 meters into the sky, and searing gas and lava flowed down its slopes after a sudden eruption Saturday, December 4, triggered by heavy rains. Several villages were blanketed with falling ash.

A thunderstorm and days of rain, which eroded and finally collapsed the lava dome atop the 3,676-meter Semeru, triggered the eruption, said Eko Budi Lelono, who heads the geological survey center.

He said flows of searing gas and lava traveled up to 800 meters to a nearby river at least twice on Saturday. People were advised to stay 5 kilometers from the crater’s mouth, the agency said.

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“Thick columns of ash have turned several villages to darkness,” said Lumajang district head Thoriqul Haq. Several hundred people were moved to temporary shelters or left for other safe areas, he said, adding that a power blackout hampered the evacuation.

The debris and lava mixed with rainfall formed thick mud that destroyed the main bridge connecting Lumajang and the neighboring district of Malang, as well as a smaller bridge, Haq said.

Despite an increase in activity since Wednesday, Semeru’s alert status had remained at the third-highest of four levels since it began erupting last year, and Indonesia’s Volcanology Center for Geological Hazard Mitigation did not raise it this week, Lelono said.

Liswanto, the head of Semeru’s monitoring post, said his office had informed the community and the miners that hot ash could tumble down from Semeru’s crater at any time after sensors picked up increased activity in the past week.

But some residents who fled to a government shelter near Lumajang district’s head office said authorities did not convey any information to them about the volcano’s activities.