INDONESIA: Villagers living near Merapi's slopes hold Friday prayers as volcano shows heightened activity and alert level remains at its highest

Record ID: 861031

  • Title: INDONESIA: Villagers living near Merapi's slopes hold Friday prayers as volcano shows heightened activity and alert level remains at its highest
  • Date: 30th October 2010
  • Summary: END OF PRAYER (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) VILLAGER, KOENTORO, SAYING:"I hope everything would be fine and there will be no more victims of hot clouds here." VILLAGERS LEAVING TENT THAT SERVED AS MOSQUE
  • Embargoed: 14th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia, Indonesia
  • City:
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA5WXF03EG6FYT44C0LD66UN468
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  • Story Text: Indonesia's Volcanology Agency said on Friday (October 29) it expected lava and hot clouds to continue spewing from Mount Merapi for the next few days.
    Lava has bubbled over the top of Indonesia's most active volcano since it erupted on Tuesday (October 26).
    Villagers who fled the slopes have congregated around 23 temporary settlements.
    "Just be patient. The volcano will keep spewing hot lava and gas for the next several days. I hope people people can be patient to stay at the evacuation barracks, and the local government must help them in this state," said Surono, chief of the National Volcanology Agency.
    There were reports that some villagers ignored warnings and had begun heading home.
    But evacuating from their villages did not prevent hundreds from Friday prayers. Majority of Indonesia's 237 million population are Muslim.
    "I hope everything would be fine and there will be no more victims of hot clouds here," said villager Koentoro. He said he accepts the recent calamity, viewing it as a test from God.
    More than 50,000 villagers had been ordered to evacuate after the 2,968-metre volcano began spewing hot ash for 15 minutes last Tuesday evening. The danger radius had been extended to 10 kilometres when the volcano acted up again on Friday.
    But the renewed activity is a good development, Surono said, as energy would not accumulate and lead to a massive eruption like it did on Tuesday.
    A series of massive eruptions have left 32 dead and blanketed surrounding villages in ash.
    Another volcano in western Java, Krakatau, showed small eruptions on Friday. Its status was increased to two levels before a big eruption.
    Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Mount Merapi killed 1,300 people in 1930.
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