The continued eruptions of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province have forced residents to evacuate and caused widespread flight cancellations, officials and airport authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
According to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center, the volcano remained active on Wednesday, spewing ash across several villages situated on its slopes.
While Tuesday’s eruption sent a massive ash column soaring up to 10 km into the sky, triggering a red aviation alert, the highest level, Wednesday’s eruption was less intense, with the ash plume rising approximately 1 km.
The powerful eruption on Tuesday prompted a wave of evacuations.
Gasper Losa Manisa, head of the emergency unit at the provincial Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, told Xinhua that many residents had already taken shelter prior to the eruption.
Others, who had earlier returned to their homes in the danger zone on their own initiative, were forced to evacuate again.
“Due to the volcanic ash being carried by strong winds, residents in two additional villages were asked to evacuate to shelters,” said Gasper, adding that no casualties or damage to homes and infrastructure have been reported so far.
Authorities are also addressing health concerns associated with volcanic ash, which can cause respiratory issues.
“We have distributed masks and nose-mouth covers in affected areas, but we still need between 50,000 to 100,000 more,” he added. The ash clouds have also disrupted air travel. I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali reported the cancellation of several international flights due to the eruption.
Cancelled routes include flights from Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.
Despite the disruptions, Acting General Manager of the Bali airport Wahyudi noted that the airport remains operational. “Our teams have been on alert and coordinating since receiving information about the eruption on Tuesday afternoon,” he said.
Helpdesks have been set up in both international and domestic terminals to assist passengers with flight status updates, refunds, rescheduling, and rerouting arrangements, according to him.
Elsewhere, three airports on Flores Island, Frans Seda Maumere Airport, H. Hasan Aroeboesman Ende Airport, and Soa Bajawa Airport, were closed on Wednesday due to volcanic ash detected on the runways.
