At least 10 people have died after a volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted spewing explosive plumes of lava and forcing authorities to evacuate nearby villages, officials said on Monday.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, on the island of Flores, erupted at 11.57pm local time (3.57pm UK time) on Sunday.
It sent up a fiery-red column of lava, volcanic ash and blazing rocks, Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for The Centre of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), said on Monday.
Lava and rocks hit the nearest settlements around 4km (two miles) from the crater, burning and damaging residents' houses, he said.
"After the eruption, there was power outage and then it was raining and big lightning which caused panic among residents," he told news agency Reuters, adding that the authority had raised the status of the volcano to the highest alert level.
As of Monday afternoon local time (Monday morning in the UK) at least 10 people had died, according to local official Heronimus Lamawuran, who added the eruption had affected seven villages.
"We have started evacuating residents since this morning to other villages located around 20km (13 miles) from the crater," he said.
Photos shared by authorities showed the evening sky over the volcano turned to red by the eruption, while footage showed some wooden houses on fire and residents wearing masks being evacuated. Thick volcanic ash covered roads and buildings in one of the villages, more footage showed.
Indonesia's disaster agency warned of potential flash floods and cold lava flows in the coming days, agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.
The local government has declared a state of emergency for the next 58 days, Abdul said, meaning the central government could help provide aid to the 10,000 affected residents. Authorities are still gathering data on the number of evacuees.
The nearest airport, located in the town of Maumere, had been temporarily closed, he added.
Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
This eruption follows a series of other eruptions in Indonesia. In May, a volcano on the island of Halmahera, Mount Ibu, caused evacuation from seven villages.
North Sulawesi's Ruang volcano also erupted in May and prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people.
Flash floods and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province in May killed more than 60 people.
