People have abandoned their homes in a bustling city of 400,000 at the foot of Indonesia’s rumbling volcano today, cramming onto trains, buses and rented vehicles as authorities warned Mount Merapi could erupt again at any time.

Indonesia’s most volatile volcano – one of 22 being closely watched following an increase in activity – unleashed its most powerful eruption in a deadly week today, spewing searing clouds of gas and debris thousands of feet into the air.

Indonesia’s military forced villagers off the slopes of the country’s most volatile volcano today as it unleashed a new powerful explosion that claimed another victim and temporarily shut down an airport.

A navy warship arrived in a remote corner of eastern Indonesia carrying tents and medical supplies today after flash floods and mudslides tore through mountainside villages, killing at least 68 people and leaving thousands homeless.

Villagers returned to their homes today along the fertile slopes of an Indonesian volcano that spewed hot ash and smoke after lying dormant for more than four centuries – catching scientists off guard.

Rescuers used heavy digging equipment to clear a muddy landslide that killed at least 15 people and left 57 buried on Indonesia' main island of Java.

Search teams lost hope of finding any more survivors under the rubble left by a massive earthquake as torrential rain held up aid in the remote hills of western Indonesia where several villages were wiped out.

HEAVY rains hampered search teams yesterday in the hills of western Indonesia where hundreds of people were buried alive in landslides triggered by a massive earthquake that wiped out four villages.