British tourists stranded in Bali have told how fears of a huge volcanic eruption have turned their dream holidays into ‘utter chaos’.
Holidaymakers have been forced to abandon their beach-side accommodation spend hours queuing at airports as flights are cancelled due to growing worries that Mount Agung is about to blow.
Indonesian authorities have ordered a mass evacuation from a danger zone six miles around the volcano’s summit, which appearing to be building up to a huge eruption.
Stranded: Sarah Murphy, 40, (left) and her friend Tina Lucke (right), 31, both from Brighton, East Sussex, were due to leave on Monday but their Emirates flight was cancelled
Audrie Smith, from London, who has been sailing around the world with her husband Seathan and their two children, today told how they were watching the volcano ‘blowing out and erupting’ from the safety of their yacht, moored outside Bali’s volcano exclusion zone.
Watching the volcano, British mother-of-two Mrs Smith, ‘We can see the volcano clearly and it’s very impressive. It is constantly blowing out smoke and ash and erupting. ‘There are still many locals here but most tourists have been evacuated. We are safe and we can leave as soon as necessary by lifting our anchor and sailing away to sea.’
People gather on the banks of the Yeh Sah River in Karangasem Regency of Bali to witness the terrifying scenes as massive cold lava flows – also known as lahar – surge down rivers surrounding Bali’s erupting Mount Agung
Stranded: Passengers gather at the Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar as flights were cancelled for two days
An estimated 3,000 Britons are among the 120,000 holidaymakers now trying to get home as Bali’s international airport was closed down by dangerous dust cloud spewing from Mount Agung.
Now tourists are being crammed onto over-loaded buses and forced to endure a 12-hour nightmare road journey if they have any hope of getting off the doomed island.
Some Britons say they have been left stranded with no help or information.
Jakob Aungiers, 26, from London, claimed the situation had become ‘every man for himself’.
‘It’s been terrible. It’s another day of full cancellations and now, after a lot of confusion and no help from anybody we’ve been crammed onto buses that are too full, too hot, people standing and no word on what’s happened.’
Former banker Jakob gave up his job at HSBC to become a lifeguard. Now he is trying to fly to Australia’s Gold Coast with AsiaAir.
He told MailOnline: ‘We haven’t been given water, food or compensation. Nobody’s told us the plan.
‘It’s utter chaos and every man, woman and child for themselves right now.’
Others holidaymakers have told how they have been stranded at the airport for days.
Tracey Brannan, 59, from Derbyshire, is on holiday with her partner David Hawkins to celebrate his 60th birthday.
They’re meant to be flying to Singapore for the second part of their holiday tomorrow afternoon – something they won’t be able to do if the airport remains closed.
Stuck: Jakob Aungiers, 26, from London, claimed the situation had become ‘every man for himself’. ‘It’s been terrible,’ he said. ‘It’s another day of full cancellations and now, after a lot of confusion and no help from anybody we’ve been crammed onto buses that are too full, too hot, people standing and no word on what’s happened’
Can’t get home: Tracey Brannan, 59, from Derbyshire, is on holiday with her partner David Hawkins (right) to celebrate his 60th birthday. Their planned flight to Singapore tomorrow afternoon will be cancelled if the airport remains closed
This dramatic photo shows thick, grey smoke billowing from Mount Agung during an eruption seen from Kubu sub-district
The mountain has been hurling clouds of volcanic ash two miles into the atmosphere since the weekend and red hot lava is welling up in the crater
Sarah Murphy, 40, and her friend Tina Lucke, 31, both from Brighton, in East Sussex, were due to leave on Monday but their Emirates flight was cancelled.
They were booked onto the next available flight on Tuesday but that plane was also grounded amid uncertainty over when the airport will reopen.
Locals stand beside the river bank as cold lava flows surging down rivers surrounding Bali’s erupting Mount Agung
Ms Murphy said: ‘I have spoken with quite a few tourists today who are in similar positions.
‘Some people staying here now were in Ubud and were apparently told to get over this side of the island because if it (the volcano) blows, then Ubud will be impossible to get out of because it’s so busy with traffic.
‘Some other tourists I spoke to couldn’t get hold of their airlines so had no idea what was happening or when or how they would leave.
‘Emirates have been extremely responsive and organised and have been able to answer most of my questions.
‘[They] said they will get us on the next available flight home but to check back with them in the morning when I think everyone will know more.
‘We have been having a fab time. Bali is amazing.’
The pair, who arrived on Bali on November 16, are staying in Padang Padang and are not near the volcano.
One family from London today told how they were watching the volcano ‘blowing out and erupting’ from the safety of their yacht, moored outside Bali’s volcano exclusion zone.
Audrie Smith who has been sailing around the world with her husband Seathan and their two children, told MailOnline: ‘We were in the Gili Islands, just off Lombok, yesterday and met several families that were stranded because the airport had closed.
A number of flights including Jetstar have been cancelled from the island of Bali in Indonesia for two days, leaving those tourists who are trying to leave, frustrated
Fed up passengers gather at the Gusti Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar as all flights were cancelled yesterday
‘Today we sailed from Lombok to Bali and we are now anchored just of the north-eastern tip in front of a town called Amed. Amed is just outside the exclusion zone but it’s still pretty close.
‘We can see the volcano clearly and it’s very impressive. It is constantly blowing out smoke and ash and erupting.
‘There are still many locals here but most tourists have been evacuated. We are safe and we can leave as soon as necessary by lifting our anchor and sailing away to sea.
‘There are still many locals here and they have small boats ready to go should a bigger eruption start.’
Mrs Smith added: ‘We’ve sailed all across the Pacific and have seen many volcanoes including a very impressive one in Tanna, Vanuatu, where you can stand on the rim and watch the lava erupt very nearby.
‘The kids love learning about volcanoes and we have been including this in their homeschooling curriculum.
‘The volcano here in Bali is bigger than any we have seen and the sight of it is truly majestic, humbling and simply mind-blowing.
‘The force of nature is just incredible when you can watch it from nearby.’
Other Britons have had to radically change their holiday plans to avoid getting caught up in the Bali travel disaster.
Adam Ryland Hall, a 28-year-old communications consultant from Brixton, south London, is currently on the Indonesian island of Gili Air with his wife.
They are due to take a boat to Bali on Tuesday, but he admitted they ‘may struggle’ if fears of a volcanic eruption continue.
He went on: ‘[The volcano] hasn’t ruined [our trip] but it’s a bit disconcerting with all the uncertainty. We hope to make our flight this week and have no idea what we will do if we can’t.
‘We have had some handy advice from the British embassy in Indonesia who saw I liked their tweet and proactively contacted me to ask for our location. That was a bit surprising but very encouraging at the same time.’
The Foreign Office has advised British travelers to contact their airlines or travel agents. Some 1,100 were killed when Mount Agung last erupted in 1963.