EVERYTHING IN “PANIC”

Locals said the initial eruption was masked by poor weather conditions.

“We didn’t hear any warning signs because it started with thunder and lightning,” said Petrus Muda Turan, head of a village on the predominantly Catholic island, adding that a baby and a young nun were among the dead.

“After midnight, people finally started to evacuate in panic. When we ran, we didn’t know what to bring, so we took it ourselves.”

Authorities warned there was a potential for rain-induced lava flooding and advised people to wear masks to protect themselves from volcanic ash.

Abdul of the disaster agency said an airport in Maumere, Flores’ second-largest city, was temporarily closed and an office was set up for locals to report any missing relatives.

Maumere search and rescue agency chief Supriyanto Ridwan said thick ash and mud from the rain hampered search efforts on Monday morning, but conditions had eased.

“An hour ago, (the volcano) rumbled, but no hot clouds or lava were seen,” he told AFP on Monday.

There were several tremors and eruptions at the volcano last week, sending plumes of ash between 500m and 2,000m into the sky for days on end.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

The mountain had several major eruptions in January, prompting authorities at the time to raise the alert to the highest level and evacuate at least 2,000 residents.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent eruptions due to its position on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” an area of ​​intense volcanic and seismic activity.

Last December, an eruption at one of the country’s most active volcanoes, Mount Marapi in West Sumatra, killed at least 24 climbers, mostly students.

And in May, more than 60 people died after heavy rains washed volcanic material from Marapi into residential areas, sweeping away homes.

that month Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province has erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of residents of nearby islands to evacuate.