Indonesia Evacuates Tourists Trapped By Volcano
by Daniel McCarthy /Mount Barujari before the eruption. Photo:
More than 200 tourists who were trapped near an Indonesia volcano on Tuesday afternoon, after an eruption sent ash and smoke more than a mile into the air at a popular hiking site, were reported to have been safely evacuated.
Mount Barujari, a 12,224-foot-high “baby-volcano” that sits within the Mount Rinjani volcano range on the island of Lombok, erupted at around 2:45 local time on Tuesday afternoon.
Rescuers were dispatched to the Mount Barujari area to look for nearly 400 hikers, most of them foreigners, who had registered to climb the mountain this week. According to the Associated Press, the last 50 of those hikers were located on Wednesday and were headed down the mountain.
More than 1,000 locals from surrounding villages were also evacuated, as ash covered trees and buildings around the volcano. In total, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency, 1,023 tourists, including 639 foreigners, were in the region when the volcano erupted.
The volcano, which is still two levels away from the highest-risk threat level, caused some flight disturbances on Wednesday. While the Lombok International Airport remained open, the eruption caused a number of flight cancellations at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.
Local officials warn hikers to stay almost 2 miles away from the volcano. According to local officials, hikers who were on the main trail a safe distance away from the volcano were rescued immediately.