Rachel Harvey: “There’s a layer of ash on the roads, cars and buildings’
Villagers in Indonesia are trying to return to their homes on the slopes of a volatile volcano, despite eruptions that have killed at least 25 people.
Mount Merapi in Java has been spewing molten rock, heat clouds and ash into surrounding areas since Tuesday.
Thousands of people were evacuated but many locals are reported to be queuing to cross safety checkpoints.
Experts told the BBC that although ash levels had subsided their readings suggested there would be new eruptions.
I am at the edge of an exclusion zone, about 8km from the centre of the volcano.
There is thick cloud cover, like a looming storm, which may help dampen down the dust.
I have been out here for 15 minutes and my boots, clothes and hair are covered with a very fine layer of ash.
It feels very eerie – the usually verdant green landscape now has a grey sheen.
One government vulcanologist, known only as Subandrio, told the BBC that there was no way of telling when or how big they would be.
Another vulcanologist said pressure building up under a “lava dome” inside the volcano threatened to create a “pyroclastic flow” – a highly dangerous mix of heat and poisonous gases.
“At some point either there’s an explosion from below that causes it to collapse, or a simple addition of lava causes it to collapse. And this sends large, hot blocks of solidified lava down the slopes,” said Ed Venski, of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Experts hope the volcano, some 500km (310 miles) south-east of Jakarta on Indonesia’s most heavily populated island, Java, will release steam slowly rather than erupt in a big blast.
At least 10,000 people have been evacuated to makeshift shelters.
The BBC’s Rachel Harvey, who is at the scene, says many people, particularly young men, are trying to return to their homes to check on their livestock and property.
Checkpoints, manned by police and volunteers, have been set up on main roads into the exclusion zone.
However, there are lots of small lanes that give access to the slopes, and this is making it very difficult for the authorities to keep track of people, our correspondent says.
“People are going home with sacks of grass to feed their cows. Some say they need to see the condition of their houses while others want to pick up belongings as they don’t have enough clothes at the shelters,” checkpoint volunteer Wawan Fauzi told AFP.
Many people ignored the initial warnings of an impending eruption.
It is feared that the death toll could rise. Among the 25 confirmed dead was a two-month-old baby.
The man known as the volcano’s spiritual gatekeeper, Mbah or grandfather Marijan, was also found dead in his house about 4km (2.5 miles) from the summit.
For many Javanese, Merapi is a sacred site. Marijan was appointed by the late sultan of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono IX, to mediate with the spirits of the mountain.
Scores of people are being treated for injuries, including severe burns, local hospital workers say.
Eyewitnesses say the area is covered by a layer of dust.
A cameraman for Reuters was quoted as saying: “Several houses and cattle have been burned by the hot cloud from the mountain. All the houses are blanketed in ash, completely white. The leaves have been burned off the trees.”
The volcano last erupted in 2006, killing two people.
In 1930 another powerful eruption wiped out 13 villages, killing more than 1,000 people.
At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.