Indonesian volcano erupts again

The eruption of Mount Sinabung seen from Tanah Karo in North Sumatra - 30 August 2010Nearly 20,000 people living near the volcano have left their homes for emergency shelters

Mount Sinabung volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has erupted again, sending ash and smoke several kilometres into the atmosphere.

Thousands of people living near the mountain evacuated their homes to stay in government-provided shelters.

According to airport officials, some domestic flights in the region have been affected by the volcanic ash.

Mount Sinabung, long considered to be inactive, erupted for the first time in 400 years in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr Surono, a government vulcanologist, told the BBC that the volcano erupted again early on Monday, spewing black ash and soot two kilometres (1.24 miles) into the air.

He said the eruption was bigger than Sunday’s.

The eruption has affected some local flights.

An official at Medan Airport, the biggest city near Mount Sinabung, told the BBC that domestic flights that were due to fly over the volcano have been suspended until further notice.

Meanwhile, relief workers are now providing shelter and medical aid to the villagers who have been affected by the volcano’s eruptions.

The majority of villagers within a 6km (3.7 miles) radius of Mount Sinabung have been evacuated.

Red Cross workers told the BBC that more than 18,000 people are now living in camps and government shelters.

Workers say that the immediate danger the villagers face is respiratory problems.

Thousands of face masks have been handed out to protect them from the thick ash and smoke that has permeated the atmosphere.

Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

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 and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *