Flights Cancelled As Volcano Erupts In Indonesia

Jakarta: More than a dozen flights were cancelled on Indonesia’s island of Bali on Saturday due to an ash cloud emitted by a fresh eruption of Mount Agung volcano. The eruption, which lasted four-and-a-half minutes, was accompanied by a loud rumbling and spread lava and incandescent rocks three km from the crater, national disaster management agency spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement, reported Efe news.

Flights to and from Bali operated by Qantas Airways, Virgin Australia Airlines and Jetstar Airways were cancelled, and a Jetstar flight between Adelaide and Bali’s capital Denpasar was diverted to Darwin in northern Australia. The mountain’s ash cloud dropped from a height of 4,000-5,000 meters (13,100-16,400 feet) to around 1,000 meters, the head of the Bali airport authority, Elfi Amir, said in a statement. He added that passengers should not panic as contingency plans were in place. A thick rain of ash and dust affected nine villages near the volcano, where a four-km radius exclusion zone remained in place. Mt Agung became active in September 2017 and its eruptions have forced operations at Denpasar airport to be halted many times. (IANS)

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