TIL Desk/World/Bali/ Bali has ordered a mass evacuation and raised the volcanic eruption alert to the highest level with the island’s international airport closed for 24 hours, trapping 60,000 travellers. Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash nearly 10,000 feet into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early on Monday warning a larger eruption is possible. Bali’s airport was closed early today after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace. Some 445 flights were cancelled, stranding about 59,000 travellers.
Authorities say the new extension of the volcanic danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. About 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock. The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about 5 million visitors a year. The ash, which began spewing into the sky after Mount Agung in eastern Bali erupted three times Saturday, has reached heights of 4,000 metres, according to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of information and data for Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency.
