Three airports closed in Indonesia after
volcanic eruption
Published on Feb 14, 2014
10:49 AM
A woman gestures during the evacuation in Malang, East Java province, on Feb 14, 2014. A volcanic eruption in East Java,
Indonesia, showered ash and debris over parts of densely populated east and central Java, resulting in the closure of three
airports, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said on Friday. -- PHOTO: AFP
JAKARTA (REUTERS) - A volcanic eruption in East Java, Indonesia, showered ash and debris over parts
of densely populated east and central Java, resulting in the closure of three airports, the National Disaster
Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said on Friday.
There have been no confirmed deaths from the eruption by Mount Kelud on Thursday, BNPB spokesman
Sutopo Nugroho said.
He said his team was trying to verify reports of two deaths.
"Juanda Airport in Surabaya, Adisumarmo Airport in Solo and Adisucipto Airport in Yogyakarta are still
closed," Sutopo said.
"Areas to the west of Mount Kelud including central Java, Yogyakarta, Cilacap, Magelang, Temenggung
and Boyolali are still experiencing showers of ash because last night the biggest eruption ... threw sand and
ash 17 km into the air to the west," he said.
The eruption had caused minimal damage to buildings, Sutopo said, but had left 3 to 5 cm of ash and sand
on roads.
Three dead, flights disrupted as Indonesia
volcano erupts
Published on Feb 14, 2014
2:32 PM
Workers stand near a Citilink airplane covered with ash from Mount Kelud at Adi Sucipto airport in Yogyakarta, on Feb 14,
2014. A spectacular volcanic eruption in Indonesia has killed at least two people and forced mass evacuations, disrupting
long-haul flights and closing international airports on Friday, Feb 14, 2014. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BLITAR, Indonesia (AFP) - A spectacular volcanic eruption in Indonesia has killed three people and
forced mass evacuations,
disrupting long-haul flights and closing international airports on Friday.
Mount Kelud, considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the main island of Java, spewed red-hot
ash and rocks high into the air late Thursday night just hours after its alert status was raised.
TV images showed ash and rocks raining down on nearby villages, while AFP correspondents at the scene
saw terrified locals covered in ash fleeing in cars and on motorbikes towards evacuation centres.
A man and a woman, both in their 60s, were crushed to death after volcanic material blanketed rooftops,
causing their separate homes in the sub-district of Malang to cave in, National Disaster Mitigation Agency
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
"The homes were poorly built and seemed to have collapsed easily under the weight," he said.
Some 200,000 people in a 10-kilometre radius from the volcano were ordered to evacuate, according to
national disaster officials, though many tried to return to their homes to gather clothing and valuables only to be forced back by a continuous downpour of volcanic materials.
"A rain of ash, sand and rocks is reaching up to 15 kilometres," from the volcano's crater, Nugroho said.
The ash has blanketed eastern Javanese cities, forcing seven airports to close, including those in
Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang and Bandung, which serve international flights, officials said,
while grounded planes were seen covered in the dust.
“All flights to those airports have been cancelled, and other flights, including some between Australia and
Indonesia, have been rerouted,” Transport Ministry director-general of aviation Herry Bakti said, adding
that it was “too dangerous to fly” near the plume.
Singapore's Changi Airport Group spokesman Robin Goh said 22 flights were cancelled as of 6pm on
Friday. He advised passengers travelling to Semarang, Solo, Surabaya and Yogyakarta to check with their
respective airlines on their flight's status before going to Changi airport.
Virgin Australia said it had cancelled all its flights to and from Phuket, Denpasar, Christmas Island and
Cocos Island on Friday, saying in a statement that "the safety of our customers is the highest priority" and
that the airline would keep monitoring the plume.
Australian nurse Susanne Webster, 38, was on a late-morning Virgin flight from Sydney to Bali that was
turned around.
"About two hours in, the pilot announced over in Indonesia there was a volcano that erupted and that we
were turning the plane back," she said, adding they were still in Australian airspace at the time.
"We will have to call them this afternoon for rescheduling, but I doubt we will be travelling soon," she said.
A spokeswoman for Australian airline Qantas said that Friday flights between Jakarta and Sydney had
been pushed back to Saturday.
"Flight paths from Australia to Singapore have been altered as a result of the volcanic ash cloud in Java,"
she said.
On the outskirts of Yogyakarta, authorities closed Borobudur - the world's largest Buddhist temple, which
attracts hundred of tourists daily - after it was also rained upon with dust from the volcano some 200
kilometres east.
At a temporary shelter in the village of Bladak, roughly 10 kilometres from the volcano's crater, around
400 displaced people, including children, slept on the floor wearing safety masks.
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said there was little chance of another
eruption as powerful as Thursday night's, but tremors around the volcano could still be felt Friday as
volcanic materials continued to blanket the rooftops of entire villages.
Communities within the affected 15-kilometre radius began clearing piles of grey ash as high as five
centimetres from roads, Nugroho said.
The National Search and Rescue Agency warned residents not to return home as lava was still flowing
through some villages, while sulphur was lingering in the air in others.
The 1,731-metre Mount Kelud has claimed more than 15,000 lives since 1500, including around 10,000
deaths in a massive 1568 eruption.
It is one of some 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of seismic
activity running around the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
Earlier this month another volcano, Mount Sinabung on western Sumatra island, unleashed an enormous
eruption that left at least 16 people dead and has been erupting on an almost daily basis since September.
Snow storm hits Japan again, grounds over
100 flights
Published on Feb 15, 2014
2:54 AM
A worker removes snow from a sidewalk in Tokyo. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO (AFP) - Two people were killed Friday when a fresh snow storm hit Japan, disrupting rail and
road travel, grounding more than 100 flights and adding to the piles left behind by an earlier blanketing.
Up to 12 inches of snow was forecast for some parts of the country by Saturday morning, a week after the
heaviest snowfall in decades left at least 11 people dead and more than 1,200 injured.
Tokyo had a thin covering by early Friday afternoon and the weather agency was warning it would
continue into the night.
The agency also warned of heavy snow in western and central Japan as well as strong winds and high
waves along coastal areas.
The Kyodo news agency reported that two people were killed on Friday in snow-related accidents in the
central Shiga and southwestern Oiga prefectures.
One victim was killed in a car crash while the other died when a tractor overturned on a snow-covered road.
The report did not state which fatalities took place in which prefecture.
The storm caused significant travel disruption with delays on the "shinkansen" bullet train services and the
closure of a number of highways across the country.
Japan Airlines (JAL) said it had cancelled 135 domestic flights for Friday - mostly from Tokyo's Haneda
airport - and All Nippon Airways (ANA) grounded 40 flights across the nation. Jiji Press said 16,000 air
passengers were affected.
Forecasters said the bad weather would continue into Saturday.
Last week, as much as 10.6 inches of snow was recorded in Tokyo, the capital's worst snowfall for 45
years.
While much of that snow had melted, the remains of larger piles as well as some slightly diminished
snowmen were still in evidence across the city.