Ten people have been injured as a volcano popular with tourists erupted on Indonesia’s main island of Java.
Sileri Crater at Dieng Plateau spewed cold lava, mud and ash as high as 164ft into the sky when it erupted, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
He said the sudden eruption occurred at around 11.30am local time, when there were about 17 visitors around the crater. Ten people were injured and are being treated in hospital.
Soldiers and police officers were dispatched to the scene, while local residents and visitors were asked to evacuate the area in case of further eruptions.
Sileri is the most active and dangerous among some 10 craters at Dieng Plateau. Its most recent eruption was in 2009, when it unleashed volcanic materials up to 656ft high and triggered the creation of three new craters.
Dieng Plateau, located in the Central Java province district of Banjarnegara, is a popular tourist attraction because of its cool climate and ninth-century Hindu temples. It sits about 6,600ft above sea level.
Some 142 people were reportedly asphyxiated in 1979 when the volcano spewed gases.
SOURCE: Press Association
BCNN1 WP 