Volcano eruption kills at least 16 people in Indonesia
- Dead include four students and a journalist who went to see blasts up close
- Only yesterday 14,000 villagers were allowed to return to their 'safe' homes
- Mount Sinaburg in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been rumbling for four months
By Dan Bloom and Abigail Frymann
PUBLISHED: 12:07 EST, 1 February 2014 | UPDATED: 05:08 EST, 2 February 2014
At least 16 people have been killed by a violent volcanic eruption on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, which sent ash spewing several miles into the air.
The dead include a TV journalist, four high school students and their teacher who went to see Mount Sinaburg up close after being told it was becoming safer.
Only yesterday thousands of villagers were allowed to return to their homes on the slopes of the volcano despite the fact it has been erupting sporadically for four months.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
At least 16 people have been killed by a violent volcanic eruption on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia which sent ash spewing several miles into the air
Catastrophic: The volcano erupts in Banos, yesterday sending ash and pyroclastic material into the atmosphere
Authorities had evacuated more than 30,000 people after the earlier eruptions which sent lava, gas and rocks from the 8,530ft peak
Fleeing: Locals from Bekerah village run for their lives as clouds of scorching dark ash followed them down the sides of Mount Sinabung
All unclear: Thousands of locals had only returned home yesterday after being evacuated in September
Rescuers run away from Suka Meriah village after they searched for victims of the Mount Sinabung volcanic eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia
An Indonesian soldier runs on ash-covered road as he and his team search victims of the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Bekerah, North Sumatra, Indonesia
A police utility vehicle during the search for victims of Mount Sinabung eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Rescuers search victims of the eruption of Mount Sinabung in Bekerah, North Sumatra, Indonesia after a volcano erupted
Tragedy: Relatives carry a coffin containing one victim at a nearby hospital. Officials fear the death toll will rise as the darkness and heat from the eruption hamper efforts to reach the mountain slopes
Distraught: A man weeps after identifying a family member killed by the eruption in Kabanjahe, Sumatra
Trauma: Thousands of villagers have been displaced by the eruptions, with families torn apart
A series of huge blasts and eruptions thundered from the 8,530-foot-high volcano, spewing lava and pyroclastic flows up to three miles away
At least three other people have been injured and officials fear the death toll will rise further.
Rescue workers have been hampered by darkness and cannot get closer to the affected areas because of the heat.
Authorities had evacuated more than 30,000 people, housing them in cramped tents, schools and public buildings, after the earlier eruptions which sent lava, searing gas and rocks from the 8,530ft peak.
They culminated today in a series of huge blasts which sent lava and pyroclastic flows up to three miles away, said officials.
Caught: Officials have said 16 people have died but they fear the death toll could rise
Harrowing: Rescue workers set about looking for bodies and survivors but their job was made more difficult by the intense heat, the dark and the threat of another eruption
Villagers were seen tending to the charred corpses of victims, themselves covered in thick grey as, as far as two miles from the peak.
Many in the rural island communities had been desperate to return to check on their homes and farms, presenting a dilemma for the government.
But hundreds of villagers also demanded to be moved safer areas because they were scared to go back.
Evacuee Naek Sembiring, one of 156 camping in a church, told The Jakarta Post two months ago that his entire village had agreed they would not return despite the situation being declared safe.
'We fear we might die,' he said. 'Our village is nearest to Mount Sinabung. In the event of an eruption where would we run to?'
Policemen sit on an utility vehicle as they search for victims of Mount Sinabung eruption in Karo, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Dilemma: Evacuated locals had only been permitted to return home yesterday but today had to leave behind homes and farms as the ash reached further and further down the volcano's slopes
Deadly: Lava and pyroclastic flows have spread from the volcano, killing people up to two miles away
Deadly: Lava and pyroclastic flows have spread from the volcano, killing people up to two miles away
Yesterday authorities allowed nearly 14,000 people living outside a three-mile danger zone to return home after volcanic activity decreased.
Others living close to the peak have been returning to their homes over the past four months despite the risk.
After today's eruptions all those who had returned have been ordered to move back to evacuation centres.
'The death toll is likely to rise as many people are reported still missingand the darkness hampered our rescue efforts,' said Lt. Col. Asep Sukarna, who led the rescue operation.
Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Mount Sinabung had been dormant for 400 years until it erupted in 2010, killing at least two people and displacing 30,000 others.
It is now among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has sporadically erupted since September.
But despite volcanos being notoriously hard to predict, it is difficult to keep farmers away because the slopes of the mountains are highly fertile.
In 2010, 324 people were killed over two months when Indonesia's most volatile volcano, Mount Merapi, roared into life.
Sleeping giant: Before 2010 Mount Sinaburg had been dormant for four centuries
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