Death toll rises after eruption of volcano on Indonesia’s Java island

Several villages were blanketed with falling ash.

A man inspects a lorry buried in the ash following the eruption of Mount Semeru in Lumajang district, East Java province, Indonesia (Trisnadi/AP)

The death toll following the eruption of the highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java has risen to 13, with seven people still missing, officials said as smouldering debris and thick mud hampered search efforts.

Mount Semeru in Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash more than 12,000 metres (40,000 feet) into the sky, and searing gas and lava flowed down its slopes after a sudden eruption on Saturday triggered by heavy rains.