Bali has ordered a mass evacuation and raised the volcanic eruption alert to the highest level while the island’s international airport has been closed for 24 hours, trapping 60,000 travellers.
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash nearly 10,000ft into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater.
Its explosions can be heard about 7.5 miles away while the National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early today 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.
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. Huge plumes of smoke can be seen coming from Mount Agung
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash nearly 10,000ft into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater
More than 50,000 travellers a day could soon be stranded in Bali as authorities issue a ‘red alert’ warning and Mount Agung continues to erupt. The volcano is pictured on Sunday
Balinese Hindus take part in a ceremony on Sunday, where they pray near Mount Agung in hope of preventing a volcanic eruption
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
Villagers stand in front of their makeshift tents at an evacuated area in Karangasem, Indonesia after Indonesian authorities ordered a mass evacuation
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.
‘Authorities will comb the area to persuade them,’ said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho at a news conference in Jakarta.
‘If needed we will forcibly evacuate them.’ About 25,000 people were already living in evacuation centers after an increase in tremors from the mountain in September sparked an evacuation.
Lava rising in the crater ‘will certainly spill over to the slopes,’ Sutopo said.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Villager Putu Sulasmi said she fled Monday with her husband and other family members to a sports center that’s serving as an evacuation center.
Flight cancellations have forced travellers to sleep at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport
Some of their frustrations were aired on Facebook, with customers either very pleased they had been moved to temporary accommodation or livid they had been left out
Customers have spent hours lining up for information about their flights. A group of surfers from Sydney wait for updates on their cancelled flight to Sumatra
On Saturday Jetstar diverted three flights heading to Bali and cancelled six flights ready to leave the island
Passengers wait for their flight schedule at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on Sunday
All flights were cancelled at 7am local time and the airport will remain closed until further notice
‘We came here on motorcycles. We had to evacuate because our house is just 3 miles from the mountain. We were so scared with the thundering sound and red light from the peak,’ she said.
The family had stayed at the same sports center in September and October when the volcano’s alert was at the highest level for several weeks but didn’t erupt. They had returned to their village about a week ago.
‘If it has to erupt let it erupt now rather than leaving us in uncertainty. I’ll just accept it if our house is destroyed,’ she said.
Bali’s airport was closed early Monday after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace.
Flight information boards showed rows of cancelations as tourists arrived at the busy airport expecting to catch flights home.
Airport spokesman Air Ahsanurrohim said 445 flights were canceled, stranding about 59,000 travelers. The closure is in effect until Tuesday morning though officials said the situation will be reviewed every six hours.
Its explosions can be heard about 7.5 miles away while the National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early today warning a larger eruption is possible
Experts 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. A father holds his son at an evacuated area in Karangasem
Evacuation: Citizens flee with their cattle amid an evacuation order after Mount Agung in Bali started spewing hot volcanic ash
Menacing: Lava rising in the crater ‘will certainly spill over to the slopes according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency
The Mount Agung volcano on Bali has erupted for the first time in more than half a century, forcing closure of the Indonesian tourist island’s busy airport
Mount Agung Volcano is pictured from Amed Beach as a glowing cloud of smoke and ash spews from its crater overnight
Agung’s last eruption in 1963 left more than 1,000 people dead and razed several villages. Analysis suggested the threat should not be as great this time because ‘energy at Mount Agung’s magma chamber is not as big’ and with the ash column only around a quarter as high so far as the 12 miles reached in 1963
According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in nearby Darwin, Australia, there is ‘ash confirmed on the ground at Denpasar Airport’ as well as ash at FL300 (which refers to flight level at 30,000 feet) in the vicinity of the volcano
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
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.
Some flights to and from Bali were canceled on Saturday and Sunday but most had continued to operate normally as the towering ash clouds were moving east toward the neighboring island of Lombok.
‘We now have to find a hotel and spend more of our money that they’re not going to cover us for when we get home unfortunately,’ said Canadian tourist Brandon Olsen who was stranded at Bali’s airport with his girlfriend.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Land Transportation said 100 buses are being deployed to Bali’s international airport and to ferry terminals to help travelers stranded by the eruption of Mount Agung.
The agency’s chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to neighboring Java and then travel by land to the nearest airports.
Bali is a major tourist destination, although the main resorts of Kuta and Seminyak are about 43 miles from the volcano. Motorists are pictured driving along a road covered in volcanic ash
Evacuation: Villagers rest at a makeshift tent at an evacuated area in Karangasem in Bali. Authorities ordered people to move away from an expanded danger zone around the volcano
Mount Agung has belched smoke thousands of feet into the atmosphere sparking an exodus from settlements near the mountain
Tourists watch the Mount Agung volcano erupting as they visit a temple in Karangasem, Indonesia. Thousands of tourists have been stranded
AirAsia and Virgin Australia flights between Denpasar and Australia remained grounded on Sunday night
The Mount Agung volcano spews hot volcanic ash as a local chops wood in the foreground
Mount Agung volcano is seen spewing smoke and ash in Bali on Sunday. The ash has thrown holiday plans into disarray
Indonesia’s tourism ministry said member hotels of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association will provide a night’s free accommodation to people affected by the airport closure.
Ash has settled on villages and resorts around the volcano and soldiers and police distributed masks on the weekend.
In Karangasem district that surrounds the volcano, tourists stopped to watch the towering plumes of ash as children made their made to school.
Indonesia sits on the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ and has more than 120 active volcanoes.
Mount Agung’s alert status was raised to the highest level in September following a dramatic increase in tremors from the volcano, which doubled the exclusion zone around the crater and prompted more than 140,000 people to leave the area.
The alert was lowered on Oct. 29 after a decrease in activity but about 25,000 people remained in evacuation centers.