Tourism and mining disrupted after volcano erupts in Indonesia

Men watch as Mount Merapi erupts (Slamet Riyadi/AP)

Indonesia’s Mount Merapi has erupted, with gas clouds and lava forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country’s most active volcano.

Merapi, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7km down its slopes.