Indonesia’s Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano erupts; some Bali flights cancelled

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JAKARTA (Reuters) – An eruption of Indonesia’s Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano spewed ash clouds more than 8 kilometres (5 miles) high, authorities said as they raised the alert status to the highest level, and an Australian airline cancelled some flights into Bali on Friday.

Thursday night’s large eruption of the volcano in East Nusa Tenggara province followed dozens of smaller ones since March 13, the national geological agency said in a statement.

A disaster mitigation agency spokesperson told Reuters one person was injured during evacuations. He did not immediately have details on the size or logistics of the evacuations.

Jetstar, Qantas Airways’ low-cost subsidiary, cancelled its flights between Australia and Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Friday morning because of the volcanic ash, but said flights were expected to resume in the afternoon.

A Bali airport spokesperson said the airport was still operating, with seven international flights cancelled on Friday morning and some domestic flights delayed. At least nine people were killed and thousands were evacuated when the Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano erupted in November last year, pelting nearby villages with hot rocks and lava flows.

It was not immediately clear how many residents were affected by Thursday’s eruption. Indonesian authorities had said in November that it aimed to permanently relocate them.

The geological agency warned of lava floods and said there were smaller eruptions early on Friday.

Indonesia has close to 130 active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.

(Reporting by Stanley Widianto; Editing by John Mair)