At least nine people were killed after the overnight eruption of the Lewotovi Rakiraki volcano in eastern Indonesia. Immediately after the explosion, a strong thunderstorm broke out, causing panic among residents. Evacuations have been ongoing in nearby villages since this morning.
– The Lewotovi Rakiraki volcano erupted between Sunday and Monday night, spewing fiery red columns of lava, ash and rocks, said Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
See also: Europe's most dangerous volcanoes. Some of them threaten Poland
He said there was a power outage after the eruption. “There was a storm with severe lightning, causing panic among residents,” he told Reuters.
Volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Houses collapsed, several people died
Fiery lava and rocks hit the nearest village up to 4 kilometers away from the crater, burning and damaging residents' homes. The eruption affected a total of seven villages. At least nine people died.
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Residents of nearby villages within a radius of about 20 kilometers from the crater, which have not yet been affected by the eruption, have been evacuating since the morning. – On Monday morning, the nearest village was covered in a thick layer of volcanic ash, – one regional official said.
Lewotovi Rakiraki Volcano (also simply known as Lewotovi) is one of the most active volcanoes on the Indonesian island of Flores.
“Rakiraki” means “male” in Indonesian, distinguishing it from the neighboring volcano Lewotobi Perempuan (meaning “female”). Both of these volcanoes form a twin volcanic complex, but Lewotovi Rakiraki is thought to be the more active of the pair.
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