27 Still Missing After Indonesia Volcanic Eruption Kills 22

SUMBERWULUH, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers dug out the body of a 13-year-old boy with their bare hands on Monday, as improved weather condition allowed them to resume their search for bodies after the highest volcano on Java island erupted with fury, killing at least 22 people and leaving 27 others missing.

Mount Semeru in Lumajang district in East Java province spewed thick columns of ash as high as 12,000 meters (40,000 feet) into the sky in a sudden eruption Saturday triggered by heavy rain. Villages and nearby towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris.

Searing gas raced down the sides of the mountain, smothering entire villages and killing or seriously burning those caught in its path.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said 56 people had been hospitalized, mostly with burns. He said rescuers were still searching for 27 villagers reported missing. Nearly 3,000 houses and 38 schools were damaged, Muhari said.

The body of the 13-year-old boy was recovered in the worst-hit village of Sumberwuluh, where houses were buried to their rooftops and cars were submerged. Crumpled roofs, charred carcasses of cattle and broken chairs covered in gray ash and soot dotted the smoldering landscape.

Rescuers on Monday retrieved two more bodies in Sumberwuluh village and five others in Sapiturang, among the worst-hit villages in the Lumajang district.

Search and rescue efforts were temporarily suspended Sunday afternoon because of fears that heavy rain would cause more hot ash and debris to fall from the crater.

The eruption of the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) -high mountain eased pressure that had been building under a lava dome in the crater. But experts warned that the dome could further collapse, causing an avalanche of blistering gas and debris trapped beneath it.

More than 2,000 villagers of 5,205 displaced people escaped to makeshift emergency shelters after Saturday’s powerful eruption, but many others defied official warnings and chose to remain in their homes to tend their livestock and protect their property.

The Lumajang district administration has declared a month-long emergency until Jan. 3.

Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has erupted many times in the last 200 years. Still, as on many of the 129 volcanoes monitored in Indonesia, tens of thousands of people live on its fertile slopes. It last erupted in January, with no casualties.

In another part of Java island, Mount Merapi on Monday spewed smoke and ash high into the air and sent streams of lava and gasses down its slopes up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). No casualties were reported.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.

–Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

About the photo: A village is covered in ash from the eruption of Mount Semeru in Lumajang district, East Java province, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The highest volcano on Java island spewed thick columns of ash into the sky in a sudden eruption Saturday triggered by heavy rains. Villages and nearby towns were blanketed and several hamlets buried under tons of mud from volcanic debris. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)