DENPASAR – Several international airlines canceled flights to and from the Indonesian tourist island of Bali on Wednesday as an ongoing volcanic eruption left travelers stranded at airports.

Tourists told The Associated Press they had been stranded at Bali’s airport since Tuesday after their flights were suddenly cancelled.

“The airline didn’t provide accommodation, leaving us stranded at this airport,” said Charlie Austin of Perth, Australia, who was vacationing in Bali with his family.

Another Australian tourist, Issabella Butler, opted to find another airline to fly her home.

“The important thing is that we have to be able to get out of here,” she said.

Media reports said thousands of people were stranded at airports in Indonesia and Australia, but no exact number was given.

Of Indonesia Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province has spewed towering columns of hot ash into the air since its initial huge eruption on November 4 killed nine people and injured dozens more.

The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano spewed ash at least 17 times on Tuesday, with the largest plume recorded at 9 kilometers (5½ miles) high, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said in a statement.

Authorities on Tuesday expanded the danger zone to ca the volcano erupted again up to 9 kilometers (5½ miles) as volcanic material, including smoldering rock, lava and thumb-sized hot fragments of gravel and ash, was thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater on Friday.

Activity from the volcano has disrupted flights at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport since the eruption began, airport general manager Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said. In the last three days, 46 flights, including 30 scheduled to depart and 16 scheduled to arrive, have been affected.

Shahab said at least 12 domestic flights and 22 overseas flights were canceled on Tuesday alone. For those cancellations, airlines were offering travelers a refund or rescheduling or rerouting, he said.

Three Australian airlines also canceled or delayed a number of flights. Jetstar has suspended flights to Bali until at least Thursday, it said on its website, saying it was “currently unsafe” to operate the route.

Virgin Australia’s website showed 10 services to and from Bali were canceled on Wednesday. Qantas said it had delayed three flights. Some airlines offer fare refunds on future flights from Bali to passengers who do not wish to travel.

Air New Zealand has canceled a flight to Denpasar scheduled for Wednesday and a return service to Auckland due to depart Bali on Thursday. Passengers will be rebooked and the airline will continue to monitor ash movement in the coming days, chief operating officer Alex Marren said.

Korean Air said two of its Bali-bound flights were forced to turn back due to volcanic ash from the eruption.

The airline said on Wednesday that the two flights – carrying about 400 passengers apiece – that departed from South Korea’s Incheon International Airport on Tuesday returned to their original departure several hours later, following forecasts according to which Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport could be affected by volcanic ash. . The two planes arrived in Incheon early Wednesday.

About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport remained closed due to seismic activity.

Three other airports in the neighboring districts of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesia Air Navigation issued a safety warning due to volcanic ash.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of two stratovolcanoes in the East Flores District of East Nusa Tenggara Province, locally known as Husband and Wife Mountains. “Laki laki” means male, while his partner is Lewotobi Perempuan, or female. It is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people.

The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity because it lies along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

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Niniek Karmini reported from Jakarta. Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand and Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report.