Fifteen killed as Mt. Merapi spew hot lava

Fifteen killed as Mt. Merapi spew hot lava

JAKARTA (JP): Mt. Merapi in Central Java spewed steam and lava
at midday yesterday, killing 15 people, burning hundreds of
others and leaving 36 missing.

Thousands of people living in an area south of the volcano,
which was immediately declared a danger zone, were evacuated by
trucks to emergency shelters at government offices and school
buildings.

The 2,962-meter-high Merapi in the southern part of Central
Java is one of 127 volcanoes in Indonesia, which lies along the
what is known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The village most hard hit was Turgo, which is located near the
Kaliurang tourist grounds. Kaliurang, 25 kilometers north of
Yogyakarta, was later declared a closed area.

The victims suffering burns were taken to community health
centers, command posts and Yogyakarta's Panti Rapih, Bethesda and
Sardjito hospitals.

A spokeswoman for the Sardjito hospital told The Jakarta Post
last night that the 12 victims who died there included two
children.

"All the victims brought here suffered serious burns, which
affected half of their bodies," Sri Wahyuni, who was speaking for
the hospital, said.

Two of the three victims who died at Panti Rapih hospital were
children, a spokesman for that hospital told the Post.

The burns were caused by the 20 clouds of steam, which gushed
to a height of 800 meters, sweeping down about six kilometers
from the crater, with temperatures ranging between 300 and 600
degrees Celsius, a local official said.

Volunteer workers from the Indonesian Red Cross and the Search
and Rescue team were still trying to locate the missing people
last night.

The volcano, which is located some 30 km north of Yogyakarta,
started showing signs of activity on Sunday when 250 to 300 small
trembles were detected from around the mountain.

The first eruption occurred at 10:15 a.m. yesterday, Mas Atje
Purbawinata, head of the Volcanic Observation Office, in
Yogyakarta, said later in the day.

"Within 50 minutes, 20 eruptions were recorded," he said.

Local residents said the eruptions happened so swiftly that
many people, who were working in their fields, had no time to run
to safety.

The volcano also sent down lava which descended into the
surrounding rivers of Krasak, Kuning, Bebeng and Boyok.

Atje said the southward movement of the clouds of steam was
mainly because the collapse of the south side of Merapi's crater.
He said a similar thing occurred in 1984 when clouds of steam
reached eight kilometers from the crater.

Merapi last erupted in November 1976, when 28 people were
killed and 1,176 were left homeless. (02/wah/mun/pwn)