At least one person has been killed and dozens suffered severe burns after the Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted on Saturday, spewing out huge clouds of smoke and ash, officials said.
Videos shared on Saturday by the country’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) showed residents running in panic as towering smoke and ash blanketed some nearby villages in Lumajang district.
The deputy chief of Lumajang district, Indah Masdar, told a news conference one person had died and 41 people had suffered burn injuries.
At least 300 families were evacuated following the eruption of Mount Semeru volcano in East Java on Saturday, according to Indah Amperawati, Deputy Head of Lumajang District, an area close to the volcano.
He said that most of the burn victims have been evacuated to the Penanggal Primarily Health Center alongside a resident who died in the village of Curah Kobokan.
The military has been asked for personnel support and equipment, Major General TNI Suharyanto, the head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), told the press conference.
Budi Santosa, Head of Disaster Management of East Java Province, said earlier on Saturday that two sub districts had been “badly affected” by the volcano’s eruption.
Volcanic ash and the smell of sulfur was first reported around 3 p.m. local time (3 a.m ET), the Mount Semeru Volcano Observation Post reported. It added that hot ash clouds were falling towards an East Java village, Sapitarang, in Pronojiwo District.
