Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung which has been brewing since
four months now, unleashed its fury on the local villagers on Saturday when it
spewed oodles of hot lava, blistering hot gas, and rock about two miles away in
a major eruption.
The death toll from the volcano has shot up to 16, with
two more dead bodies being recovered, said reports. Rescuers found 14 bodies
and rescued three people with burn wounds, said National Disaster Mitigation
Agency.
"The death toll is likely to be rised as many people
are reported still missing and the darkness hampered our rescue efforts"
said Lt. Col. Asep Sukarna, who led the operation to retrieve the charred
corpses some three kilometers from the volcano's peak.
Those dead include students of high-school and their
teacher along with a local journalist.
The volcanic eruptions came just a day after the
government had ordered the villagers back to the slopes after noticing
decreased activity.
Also last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had
paid a visit to the troubled area, and vowed to relocate the displaced
villagers away from the mountain. Villagers are attracted to the slopes of
volcanoes because the eruptions make for fertile soil.
Sinabung's last major eruption was in August 2010, when
it killed two people. Prior to that it had been quite for four centuries.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its
location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" an arc of volcanoes and fault
lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Mount Sinabung is among about 130 active
volcanoes in Indonesia and has sporadically erupted since September.
