Lava flood looming

YOGYAKARTA: The villages at the foot of Mt. Merapi are now under constant threat of being flooded with lava which has been accumulating on the crater's edge, the authorities warned.

Mas Atje Purbawanita of the Directorate of Volcanology who is monitoring the situation said heavy rainfall is bound to send the cold lava, now estimated at five million cubic meters, tumbling down the mountain slope.

Mt. Merapi is classified as one of the most active volcanoes in the world although its last fatal eruption was in 1930 when about 1,300 people were killed. The major threat since then has been the prospect of a lava flood. (emb)