Efforts to evacuate thousands of individuals in Indonesia were underway on Thursday following a series of eruptions from a volcano, which resulted in the closure of a nearby airport and a warning about potential tsunami risks due to falling debris.
Mount Ruang’s crater erupted five times, with the lava glowing against a backdrop of lightning flashes overnight, following four eruptions the previous day. This led authorities to escalate the alert level to the highest tier in the region’s four-level system.
The volcano, located in Indonesia’s outermost territory, continued to emit smoke on Thursday morning, prompting the closure of the nearest international airport in Manado City on Sulawesi Island for a 24-hour period.
A swift evacuation operation was initiated to relocate 11,000 residents from the vicinity, including the remote island of Tagulandang, which is home to around 20,000 people.
There were reports of residents attempting to escape in a state of panic, as mentioned by officials.
According to a statement from Jandry Paendong, an official from the local search and rescue agency, people evacuated independently the previous night, but there was disarray due to the volcano’s eruptions and the descent of small rocks, leading the residents to search for evacuation routes.
A team of 20 staff members was involved in assisting the evacuation of residents along the coast near the volcano using rubber boats.
Additional boats and equipment were requested to enable the team to conduct evacuations for those situated on or close to the coast facing the volcano.
Both tourists and residents were advised to stay outside a six-kilometre exclusion zone as a safety measure.
Following the initial eruption on Tuesday evening, over 800 individuals were transported to safety from Ruang to the nearby Tagulandang island, with four subsequent eruptions occurring on Wednesday.