40 People Trapped, Villages Evacuated As Mt Karangetang Erupts

Mount Karangetang spewed hot clouds of ash and trapped up to 40 people between lava flows on its slopes on Friday as the government raised an alert for the peak to the highest level and evacuated villages.

Lava streamed 1,500 meters down the volcano on Siau island in North Sulawesi province and hot clouds rose 3,800 meters into the air, the head of the country’s vulcanology agency said.

“We’ve ordered the villages to be emptied,” agency chief Surono told Reuters.

A government official in the region said three villages, of about 300 people in all, had been evacuated but 40 people were trapped between two rivers filled with lava.

It was not clear if the trapped people were still alive.

The volcano erupts frequently but Surono said the alert was raised because of the size of the hot clouds.

(A rather skimpy report, it would have been more copious if it would have been the Merapi, but then..., it is still news, the old guy's musings)