On Saturday, the largest volcano on Indonesia's most populous island, Java, erupted suddenly, spewing thick columns of ash, scorching gas, and lava down its slopes. The eruption was prompted by heavy rainfall. At least one villager died due to their burns, while scores more were hospitalized.
Mount Semeru's eruption in East Java province's Lumajang district buried several communities with falling ash.
A thunderstorm and days of rain damaged and eventually destroyed the lava dome atop the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) Semeru, said Eko Budi Lelono, the geological survey center's director.
He claimed at least twice on Saturday that scorching gas and lava flowed up to 800 meters (2,624 feet) to a neighboring river. The organization recommended residents keep at least 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the crater's mouth.
"Thick columns of ash have cast a pall over several villages," said Thoriqul Haq, district head of Lumajang. He added that several hundred individuals were relocated to temporary shelters or left in other safe regions, noting that a power outage complicated the evacuation.
The debris and lava combined with the rain created a thick muck that collapsed both the main bridge between Lumajang and the neighboring district of Malang and a smaller bridge, Haq added.
Despite increased activity since Wednesday, Semeru's alert level has remained at the third-highest of four possible levels since it began erupting last year, and Indonesia's Volcanology Center for Geological Hazard Mitigation did not elevate it this week, Lelono said.
According to Indah Masdar, the deputy district head, one guy died from severe burns, and 41 others were hospitalized with burn injuries. She stated that two locals had gone missing, and several sand miners had become stuck in isolated regions near the village river.
Masdar said that volcanic material damaged entire houses in the Curah Kobokan hamlet.
According to television sources, people are screaming and fleeing under a massive ash cloud, their faces soaked from rain combined with volcanic dust. When Semeru last erupted in January, no one was killed.
Indonesia, an archipelago with over 270 million, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity due to its location along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped sequence of fault lines.
