Indonesia Volcano Eruption: Situation Volatile

One of the most active volcanoes in the world erupted over the weekend and the region is on alert:

At least 14 people have been killed in a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Indonesia, just a day after authorities allowed thousands of villagers to return to their homes on its slopes.

Residents in the “danger zone” around Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, which had been rumbling for months, had been evacuated for their safety but were told that activity was decreasing before the eruption on Saturday.

The 8,530ft volcano spewed lava and searing gas, sending rocks and burning ash raining down its southern slopes.

Televison footage showed pyroclastic flows of hot gas and rock reaching up to three miles away and villages covered in thick grey ash.

A local television journalist and four high-school students with their teacher, who were visiting the mountain to see the eruptions up close, were among the dead, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

At least three other people were injured and authorities fear the death toll will rise.

Authorities in western Sumatra had evacuated more than 30,000 people, housing them in cramped tents, schools and public buildings but many had been desperate to return to check on homes and farms.

By: dave-dr-gonzo

David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.

* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.