Rescuers in Indonesia are searching for survivors in villages buried by hot ash, after Mt Semeru on Java island erupted on Saturday.
Fourteen people are known to have died and dozens were injured, emergency authorities said.
One volunteer in the nearby district of Lumajang filmed police and military officials working to dig out bodies with their bare hands.
Houses were buried to their rooftops and vehicles wholly submerged.
On Saturday, authorities stated that at least 14 people are dead and hundreds are displaced after Mount Semeru, a volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province. On Sunday, Indonesia’s National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) stated that the eruption has wounded 56 others with 35 people in serious condition after it covered villages with ash and left people to run from billowing clouds of debris.
The BNPB stated that five of the victims have yet to be identified and nine people are still missing. It added that some 1,300 people have been displaced by the eruption and reached evacuation centres. Officials state that the situation at Mount Semeru remains dangerous due to the risk of pyroclastic flows – a mix of ash, rock and volcanic gases that can be much more dangerous than lava. Chief of the Mount Semeru Observation Post, Liswanto, stated, “We recommend everyone to increase their alert because the potential of pyroclastic flows threat is still high. It can happen anytime without any warning.”
