Volcano erupts three times claiming life of baby girl

INDONESIA’S Mount Merapi erupted three times yesterday, causing thousands to flee and claiming the life of a three-month-old baby girl as it emitted searing clouds and volcanic ash.

Before the latest eruption people living in the shadow of Indonesia’s most active volcano had been warned to evacuate or risk being killed.

“We heard three explosions around 6pm (11am GMT) spewing volcanic material as high as 1.5 kilometres and sending heat clouds down the slopes,” government volcanologist Surono told reporters.

A doctor at Muntilan hospital, Sasongko, told MetroTV: “The baby had severe breathing difficulties from inhaling volcanic materials and we could not help her.”

She was the first reported death from the volcano in central Java, about 25 kilometres north of the cultural capital of Yogyakarta.

At least 24 people were treated at the same hospital for breathing difficulties, while elsewhere five men suffered burns.

Footage showed thousands of people fleeing the eruptions, some covered in white ash, as officials with loudhailers tried to help them escape the area.

Authorities had put an area 10 kilometres around the crater of Mount Merapi on red alert on Monday, ordering 19,000 people to flee.

Surono said: “Today’s eruption released heat clouds of gas and ash down the slopes for about two hours. We cannot tell you how far the searing clouds went down on the slopes because it’s dark.”

Before the latest eruption officials said nearly 15,000 people had ignored evacuation orders despite several minor blasts that sent lava spewing down Merapi’s southern slopes.

Many people sleeping in camps returned to their homes during the day to work and tend to their cattle. Some men refused to leave altogether, confident they could escape.

Field coordinator Widi Sutikno, of the Sleman district, said only about 3,700 people out of 11,400 in his area had sought shelter in makeshift refuges.

“We have evacuated many women, pregnant women, sick people, elderly people and children,” Sutikno said.

“We let some people return to their fields for their daily activity. But they need to go back to the camps and not their houses,” he said.

Sukamto, 50, a farmer, said his family had been evacuated but he still needed to tend his cows.

“It’s still fine for me to work, as I can see when the volcano will erupt from here. I work at around eight kilometres from the top of Merapi and I think it’s still safe,” Sukamto said.

“However, I still have to be really careful here,” he said.