Indonesian flights axed amid fears over volcano

International airlines cancelled flights into Indonesia’s capital today after a volcano hundreds of miles to the west unleashed its most powerful eruption in a century, incinerating villagers as they fled a searing gas cloud.

The number of people killed by Mount Merapi in the last two weeks has now climbed to 138, as a tiny hospital at the foot of the mountain struggled to cope with survivors – some of whom have burns on up to 95% of their bodies.