More Than 200 Tourists Trapped on Indonesian Volcano
A volcano in Indonesia erupted without warning on Tuesday, trapping more than 200 tourists.
Indonesia’s Mount Barujari erupted in a giant column of ash just before 3 p.m. while nearly 400 tourists were hiking up its side.
About 120 hikers were found heading down the mountain on Wednesday. No injuries have been reported, but there are still about 250 people missing, according to NBC News. No information has yet been released about the nationalities of the tourists.
A video posted by Jelajah Lombok (@jelajahlombok) on Sep 27, 2016 at 9:01pm PDT
Almost 400 people have been registered to hike the mountain since Sunday. Authorities believe many are still on the trails. A trek around the mountain takes about three days to complete.
Since the eruption, 1,100 people have been evacuated from the area. Government scientists declared a danger zone immediately surrounding the area, but warnings were ignored by some tourists who wanted to stay and take pictures of the eruption.
The volcano spewed ash into a column that reached 6,500 feet. The eruption disrupted flights at Bali airport for a few hours on Tuesday. Farms and wildlife around the volcano were covered in a layer of ash, but nearby towns were not affected.
Ash cloud from Indonesia's Mt Rinjani has halted some flights between Perth/Bali. Video by @philiprec @abcnewsPerth pic.twitter.com/Ko5e8zF7AU
— Gian De Poloni (@GianDePoloni) September 27, 2016
Mount Barujari is a baby volcano that sits inside Mount Rinjani, one of Indonesia’s 130 active volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The volcano was put on alert almost one year ago.
Cailey Rizzo writes about travel, art and culture and is the founding editor of The Local Dive. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @misscaileyanne.