JAKARTA – The Semeru volcano eruption in East Java province yesterday, left one killed, two missing and 40 others injured, a local official told a joint virtual press conference.
The disaster also damaged scores of houses in the district, and hot lava hampered rescuers from evacuating eight trapped miners, who asked authorities by mobile phones for help, said the Lumajang District’s Deputy Head, Indah Amperawati Masdar.
“All the houses in Curah Kobokan village were destroyed. For the eight trapped miners, help could not be conducted due to the hot lava,” she said. Some of the people suffered serious injuries and have been rushed to nearby hospitals.
The official asked the disaster management and mitigation agency to deploy a helicopter to assist and evacuate the disaster affected villagers.
Separately, the Lumajang District’s head, asked for deploying more soldiers to evacuate and rescue the affected people.
Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency’s acting spokesperson said, their monitoring post reported that hot clouds started spreading from the crater of the volcano at 3:10 p.m. Jakarta time (8:10 a.m. GMT).
The evacuation of villagers living on the slope of the volcano is under way now, and several evacuation centres have been established, he said in a statement.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK