The Mount Merapi volcano on densely populated Java island is one of the most active in Indonesia and a series of eruptions in 2010 killed more than 350 people.
A disaster mitigation agency told residents living within a 5 km (3 mile) radius of the mountain to move to shelters, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.
He said that 120 people who had been hiking up Merapi were safe.
The airport in Yogyakarta, the nearest big city to the volcano, shut because of the threat from the ash, the state-owned aviation agency AirNav said in a statement.
The disaster agency described Merapi’s latest eruption as phreatic, which means magma heats up ground water and vapor is released under pressure.
The alert status on Merapi had not be raised, it said.
A view of Mount Merapi following an eruption as seen from Donoharjo village, near Yogyakarta, on the island of Java, Indonesia May 11, 2018. REUTERS/Dwi Oblo
A Thai woman walking topless in Arugam Bay town has been arrested by the Police.
Ajith Gallage, the owner of a Bird Park in Nagarawawa, Hambantota, has been remanded over allegations of concealing illegally imported motorcycles, in a warehouse owned by him.
The Cabinet has approved a proposal for Sri Lankans overseas to apply for their passports through an online system via the Lankan diplomatic missions.
A passenger attempting to smuggle the largest quantity of gold of 35 kilo grams was arrested by the Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) today, a senior official said.
Leave Comments