One week after erruption, Merapi still said dangerous

YOGYAKARTA (JP): One week after the massive eruption that has killed 46 people to date, rescue workers in search of missing villagers on the slope of Mt. Merapi still have not been given the green light to enter areas declared as dangerous.

Members of the Yogyakarta Search and Rescue (SAR) agency have been on stand-by at their various posts since Wednesday. As of Monday they were still waiting for clearance from the volcano's monitoring office which has classified the areas as "no entry" zones.

Officials speculate that there could be between 100 and 200 people trapped in villages on the Merapi slope which has been impassable since Tuesday's eruption.

Among those not accounted for include staff members from the Ministry of Public Works who were working on a clean water plant project.

Mt. Merapi's activity has ebbed since its initial eruption but several minor eruptions in the past week were taken by volcanic experts as indications that a larger blast could still occur.

Also anxiously waiting for clearance are some of the 5,000 people who fled their homes on the slope of Merapi after last week's eruption. They have been accommodated at temporary shelters in Magelang and other nearby towns. They've been ordered to stay put until it is absolutely safe for them to return.

Another danger looming for villagers at the foot of the mountain are the millions of cubic meters of lava which have been gathering in the craters and could begin to descend on a moments notice.

People living along the Code River, which passes Yogyakarta, have been told to prepare for evacuation in fear of the volcanic material that may eventually flood the stream.

As of yesterday afternoon, the death toll from the eruption remained at 46.

Thirty seven people who suffered severe burn injuries were being treated at four different hospitals in Yogyakarta -- Sardjito, Panti Rapih, Bethesda and Muhammadiyah.

A team of Japanese doctors held a meeting yesterday with their counterparts from the four hospitals to discuss plastic surgery for some of the victims.

Sardjito Hospital Director Achmad Suyudi said the meeting reviewed the complexity and the problems of plastic surgery. He did not say when and if the surgery would begin.

It was earlier feared that some of the injured people were so severely burnt that they would need surgical treatment immediately. (har/emb)