Indonesia raises Bali volcano alert to highest level, airport shut, thousands of tourists stranded

DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters): Indonesia raised its warning for Bali’s Mount Agung volcano to the top level four alert on Monday, closed the holiday island’s airport and told residents near the summit to immediately evacuate, warning of the “imminent” risk of a larger eruption.

Bali’s airport was closed for 24 hours, disrupting 445 flights and some 59,000 passengers, due to the eruption warning and the presence of volcanic ash from Agung.

TV footage showed cold lava flows (lahar) at a number of locations on the mountainside. Lahar carrying mud and large boulders can destroy houses, bridges and roads in its path.

“Plumes of smoke are occasionally accompanied by explosive eruptions and the sound of weak blasts that can be heard up to 12 km (7 miles) from the peak,” the Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said in a statement.

“The potential for a larger eruption is imminent,” it said, referring to the visibility of the glow from magma at Agung’s summit overnight.

Residents were warned to “immediately evacuate” a danger zone that circles Agung in a radius of 8-10 km (5-6 miles).

Agung rises majestically over eastern Bali to a height of just over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet). Agung’s last eruption in 1963 left more than 1,000 people dead and razed several villages.

“I’m not worried (but) my friends in Russia are a little bit worried,” said a Russian tourist, who only wanted to be identified as Dmitry, at an observation post in Rendang in Bali’s east.

Bali, famous for its surf, beaches and temples, attracted nearly 5 million visitors last year, and its international airport serves as a transport hub for the chain of islands in Indonesia’s eastern archipelago.

Tourism business has slumped in Bali since September when Agung’s volcanic tremors began to increase.

“In anticipation of the possibility and imminent risk of disaster, PVMBG (the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center) raised Mount Agung alert level from three to four,” it said in a statement.

Travellers stranded

According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in nearby Darwin, Australia, there is “ash confirmed on the ground at Denpasar Airport” as well as ash at FL300 (which refers to flight level at 30,000 feet) in the vicinity of the volcano.