MAUMERE, Indonesia — Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said Monday that at least six people have died as a series of volcanic eruptions spread across the remote island of Flores.
The eruption at Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki just after midnight on Monday kicked thick brown ash 2,000 meters into the air and hot ash engulfed a nearby village, burning several houses including a Catholic monastery, Firman Yosef said. , the officer at the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki monitoring station.
The Disaster Management Agency lowered the death toll from an earlier report to nine, saying it had received new information from local authorities. It said that information is still being collected about the extent of the injured and damage as local media reports say that many people are buried in the collapsed houses.
Authorities also raised the danger level and expanded the danger zone on Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki on Monday, following a series of eruptions that began last week.
The country's volcano monitoring center raised the volcano's alert level to the highest level and doubled the exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) zone at midnight on Monday as eruptions intensified.
The center said at least 10,000 people were affected by the eruption of the volcano in Wulanggitang district, in the six nearby villages of Pululera, Nawokote, Hokeng Jaya, Klatanlo, Boru and Boru Kedang.
In Ile Bura District, 4 villages were affected, namely Dulipali Village, Nobo, Nurabelen and Riang Rita, while in Titehena District it affected four villages, namely Konga Village, Kobasoma, Bokang Wolomatang and Watowara.
He said the volcanic material was thrown up to 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from its crater, blanketing nearby towns and villages with tons of volcanic debris and forcing residents to flee.
A monk from the village of Hokeng died and another disappeared, said Agusta Palma, head of the Saint Gabriel Foundation that oversees monasteries on the predominantly Catholic island.
“Our monks came out in shock because of the rain of volcanic ash in the dark,” said Palma.
Photos and videos shared on social media showed tons of volcanic debris covering houses up to their roofs in villages like Hokeng, where hot volcanic material is burning houses.
It is the second volcanic eruption in Indonesia in as many weeks. West Sumatra's Mount Marapi, one of the country's most active volcanoes, erupted on October 27, spewing thick ash at least three times and blanketing nearby villages with debris, but no casualties.
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