At least 13 people have been killed and dozens suffered severe burns after the Mount Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted.
The country’s spokesperson for disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), Abdul Muhari, said the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java erupted on Saturday around 3 p.m.
The eruption was triggered by thunderstorms and days of rain sending volcanic ash into the Indian Ocean in the southern part of Java island.
Muhari added that at least Ninety-eight were injured, including two pregnant women, 10 others were still trapped and 902 have been evacuated.
The eruption separated a strategic bridge connecting two areas in the nearby district of Lumajang with the city of Malang both of which are on Java, an island of close to 150 million people in the Indonesian archipelago and decimated buildings, Reuters reported.
Semeru, at more than 3,600m high, is among Indonesia’s nearly 130 active volcanoes. It erupted in January, causing no casualties.
Indonesia straddles the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the earth’s crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanoes.
