After a catastrophic eruption over the weekend, officials monitoring Indonesia’s Semeru volcano cautioned locals to stay wary on Monday, as severe wind and rain halted search-and-rescue attempts.
On Saturday, the island of Java’s tallest peak exploded suddenly, sending a towering column of ash into the sky that buried nearby settlements. A total of fourteen individuals were murdered, with scores more being injured.
Roofs jutted out of an arid terrain in aerial footage, while on the ground, military troops, police officers, and civilians crawled through muck with their hands to retrieve victims.
Liswanto, the head of the Semeru Volcano Observatory, advised people to stay away from the mountain on Monday, amid reports that worried villagers had returned home to check on their goods and animals.
“The status of Mt Semeru is still at level 2, which means at this level, people need to be more vigilant because the potential threat is still there,” he said.
More than 50 persons were injured, largely by burns, as a result of the explosion. A major bridge connecting two areas in the surrounding district of Lumajang with the city of Malang was damaged by lava flows.
