Volcano erupts for third time

INDONESIA’S Mount Merapi volcano erupted yesterday for the third time in a week, driving the number of refugees to almost 70,000, as the death toll from a tsunami thousands of kilometres to the west rose to 431, officials said.

The fresh eruption forced a thick ash cloud about 1.5 kilometres into the air above Merapi, which sits on the outskirts of Yogyakarta city in Central Java, and caused panicked residents to flee villages on the slopes of the mountain for safety shelters.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency said that 38 people have been killed and 69,533 evacuated since Merapi began erupting last week, while Indonesia’s vulcanology agency warned that flights around Yogyakarta may be disrupted.