At least 10 killed, houses burnt after in Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupts in Indonesia

At least 10 people have died and many houses burnt including a convent of Catholic nuns after series of volcanic eruptions at Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki spew thick molten lava on Indonesia's remote island of Flores, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency.

The eruption occurred around midnight with ashes rising as high as 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) into the air.

The lava hit several villages killing at least 10 people including a child whose bodies were found with a 4-kilometer (2.4 mile) radius of the crater, said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson.

According to Yousef, the volcanic material thrown up to 6 km (3.7 miles) from its crater, shrouded nearby villages and towns with tons of volcanic debris and forced residents to flee.

The rescue operation is ongoing and search for more bodies under the ashes debris is underway, said Muhari.

At least 10,000 people have been affected by the volcanic eruption. The debris has spread in six villages of Wulanggitang District, and four villages in Ile Bura district, he said.

During a video conference, Muhammad Wafid, head of the Geology Agency at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, explained that the eruption on Nov 4 differed in character from the eruption in January.

He noted that a blockage of magma in the crater had reduced detectable seismic activity, while simultaneously increasing pressure.

“The eruptions that occurred since Friday were due to the accumulation of hidden energy,” Wafid was quoted as saying.

The national volcano monitoring agency raised the alert status of the volcano to its highest level and extended the exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius early Nov 4, following an increase in eruption frequency.

The recent Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki's eruption is Indonesia’s second volcanic eruption over the past two weeks.

Lewotobi Laki-laki is one of two stratovolcanoes in East Flores district, East Nusa Tenggara province, locally referred to as the “husband and wife” mountains. "Laki-laki" means man, and its counterpart is Lewotobi Perempuan, meaning woman.

Earlier on Oct 27, West Sumatra province’s Mount Marapi erupted, which is one of the country’s most active volcanos. The volcano erupted multiple times, spewing thick columns of ash that blanketed nearby villages with debris. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.