Fifteen killed as Mt. Merapi spew hot lava<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mt. Merapi in Central Java spewed steam and lava
\nat midday yesterday, killing 15 people, burning hundreds of
\nothers and leaving 36 missing.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people living in an area south of the volcano,
\nwhich was immediately declared a danger zone, were evacuated by
\ntrucks to emergency shelters at government offices and school
\nbuildings.<\/p>\n
The 2,962-meter-high Merapi in the southern part of Central
\nJava is one of 127 volcanoes in Indonesia, which lies along the
\nwhat is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.<\/p>\n
The village most hard hit was Turgo, which is located near the
\nKaliurang tourist grounds. Kaliurang, 25 kilometers north of
\nYogyakarta, was later declared a closed area.<\/p>\n
The victims suffering burns were taken to community health
\ncenters, command posts and Yogyakarta's Panti Rapih, Bethesda and
\nSardjito hospitals.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the Sardjito hospital told The Jakarta Post
\nlast night that the 12 victims who died there included two
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
\"All the victims brought here suffered serious burns, which
\naffected half of their bodies,\" Sri Wahyuni, who was speaking for
\nthe hospital, said.<\/p>\n
Two of the three victims who died at Panti Rapih hospital were
\nchildren, a spokesman for that hospital told the Post.<\/p>\n
The burns were caused by the 20 clouds of steam, which gushed
\nto a height of 800 meters, sweeping down about six kilometers
\nfrom the crater, with temperatures ranging between 300 and 600
\ndegrees Celsius, a local official said.<\/p>\n
Volunteer workers from the Indonesian Red Cross and the Search
\nand Rescue team were still trying to locate the missing people
\nlast night.<\/p>\n
The volcano, which is located some 30 km north of Yogyakarta,
\nstarted showing signs of activity on Sunday when 250 to 300 small
\ntrembles were detected from around the mountain.<\/p>\n
The first eruption occurred at 10:15 a.m. yesterday, Mas Atje
\nPurbawinata, head of the Volcanic Observation Office, in
\nYogyakarta, said later in the day.<\/p>\n
\"Within 50 minutes, 20 eruptions were recorded,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Local residents said the eruptions happened so swiftly that
\nmany people, who were working in their fields, had no time to run
\nto safety.<\/p>\n
The volcano also sent down lava which descended into the
\nsurrounding rivers of Krasak, Kuning, Bebeng and Boyok.<\/p>\n
Atje said the southward movement of the clouds of steam was
\nmainly because the collapse of the south side of Merapi's crater.
\nHe said a similar thing occurred in 1984 when clouds of steam
\nreached eight kilometers from the crater.<\/p>\n
Merapi last erupted in November 1976, when 28 people were
\nkilled and 1,176 were left homeless. (02\/wah\/mun\/pwn)<\/p>",
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