Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali were canceled on Wednesday, after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, sending an ash tower 10 kilometers (six miles) into the sky, officials said.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, prompting authorities to raise its alert level to the highest 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 said 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.
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.
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.
No less than 450 families from affected villages have settled in temporary housing equipped with electricity and clean water facilities.
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.”
