Fears volcano close to erupting

INDONESIA warned yesterday that its most volatile volcano could erupt at any time and started evacuating some of the thousands of villagers living on the mountain’s slope.

Mount Merapi has seen increased volcanic activity over the past week and officials have raised the alert level for the 9,737 foot (2,968-meter) high mountain to the most urgent level, said government volcanologist Surono.

The mountain last erupted in 2006, when it sent an avalanche of blistering gases and rock fragments racing down the mountain that killed two people. A similar eruption in 1994 killed 60 people, while 1,300 people died in a 1930 eruption.