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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jacob Phillips

At least 43 people killed after volcano causes flash floods and cold lava in Indonesia

At least 43 people have been killed after flash floods and cold lava flowing from a volcano hit Indonesia's West Sumatra province.

Torrential rain on Saturday evening triggered flash floods, landslides, and ‘cold lava’ flow - a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water - in three districts in West Sumatra province, Abdul Malik, chief of the provincial rescue team, told Reuters.

A search is underway for 15 missing people, authorities said on Monday.

The cold lava flow, known in Indonesia as a lahar, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra's most active volcanoes.

In December, more than 20 people were killed after Marapi erupted. A series of eruptions has followed since.

"The heavy rain swept materials such as ash and large rocks from the Marapi volcano," said Abdul Malik, who later added in a statement that 43 people had died and 15 remained missing.

"Cold lava flow and flash floods have always been threats to us recently. But the problem is, it always happens late at night until dawn," he said.

Survivors recounted how they fled as the cold lava flowed towards their homes.

"I heard the thunder and the sound similar to boiling water. It was the sound of big rocks falling from Mount Marapi,” Rina Devina, a 43-year-old housewife from the Agam district told AFP news agency.

“It was pitch black, so I used my cellphone as a torch. The road was muddy, so I chanted ‘God, have mercy’ over and over again,” Ms Devina said.

The mother of three added that a neighbour's house had been "flattened by big rocks" and four of her neighbours died.

Abdul said around 400 personnel, including rescuers, police, and military, were deployed to search for the missing people on Monday, helped by at least eight excavators and drones.

The national disaster and management agency BNPB said in a statement almost 200 houses were damaged and 72 hectares (178 acres) of lands, including rice fields, were affected.

At least 159 people from Agam district were evacuated to nearby schools.

Mount Ibu spews volcanic materials into the air during an eruption in West Halmahera, Indonesia on Monday (AP)

Footage shared by BNPB showed roads and rice fields covered by mud. Video also showed the wreckage of damaged homes and buildings, while the floods brought logs and large rocks into settlements.

Elsewhere on Monday, Mount Ibu, a volcano in Indonesia's North Maluku province, erupted on Monday, spewing thick grey ash and dark clouds 5,000 metres into the sky for five minutes.

"The volcanic earthquakes are still intense so there is a potential for a future eruption," Hendra Gunawan, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said.

After an eruption on Friday, the centre raised the alert level for the volcano from 2 to 3, the second-highest level, which widens the radius of the area which should be vacated. Local authorities have prepared evacuation tents, but no evacuation order has been reported yet.

Officials advised residents and tourists not to conduct any activities within 5 kilometres (3 miles) of Mount Ibu's crater. More than 13,000 people live within a 5-kilometre (3-mile) radius of the northern side of the crater, Gunawan said.

The 1,325-metre (4,347-foot) volcano is on the northwest coast of the remote island of Halmahera.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

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