Airlines cancel flights to and from Bali as Mount Lewotobi eruption forces evacuations, threatens lahar floods
SIKKA (Indonesia), June 18 — Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia's resort island of Bali were cancelled on Wednesday, authorities said, after a volcano in the archipelago's east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10 kilometres (six miles) into the sky.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with authorities raising its alert status to the highest level of a four-tiered system.
'Due to volcano activity of Lewatobi Laki-Laki in East Nusa Tenggara, several flights at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport are cancelled,' airport operator Angkasa Pura Indonesia told AFP in a statement.
The flights cancelled included Jetstar and Virgin Australia services to cities across Australia, with Air India, Air New Zealand, Singapore's Tigerair and China's Juneyao Airlines also cancelling flights 'due to volcano', Bali's international airport website said.
Jetstar confirmed cancellations to and from Bali in a statement on its website Wednesday.
'Forecasts show the ash cloud is expected to clear by later tonight. As a result, this afternoon's flights will be delayed to operate later this evening,' it said.
Several domestic AirAsia flights leaving for popular tourist hotspot Labuan Bajo on Flores were also cancelled.
Bali's Ngurah Rai airport said 32 flights in and out of the island had been cancelled on domestic and international routes.
An airport customer service agent told AFP the aviation hub was still operating normally despite the cancelled flights.
'It depends on the route and also the airline,' the agent, who declined to give her name, said.
The Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport, a relatively smaller airport in nearby Maumere on Flores island was closed until Thursday morning, its authorities said on social media.
Ongoing tremors
Volcanic ash rained down on several villages around Lewotobi Laki-Laki and forced the evacuation of at least one village late Tuesday, the country's disaster mitigation agency said.
Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement that tremors and eruptions were still being detected on Wednesday morning.
'No less than 450 families from affected villages... have settled in temporary housing equipped with electricity and clean water facilities,' he said.
The geology agency said residents and tourists should avoid carrying out any activities within at least seven kilometres of the volcano's crater.
It warned of the possibility of hazardous lahar floods – a type of mud or debris flow of volcanic materials – if heavy rain occurs, particularly for communities near rivers.
There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.
In November, the volcano erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to Bali, and forcing thousands to evacuate.
Laki-Laki, which means 'man' in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano peak named after the Indonesian word for 'woman'.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire.' — AFP
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