Indonesia issues tsunami warning after more eruption from Mount Ruang
The heightened alert was issued late on Wednesday after the 725-meter-high volcano had two large eruptions earlier in the day, spewing a column of ash 3,000 metres into the sky.
Sixty-seven people have been reported missing, while more than 14,000 others were displaced due to flash floods in Indonesia’s Sulawesi province, according to the authorities on Saturday,
Search and rescue operations are still underway, it said.
Rescue teams have retrieved a total of 36 bodies so far.
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According to a provincial official, the rescuers focused their efforts in the villages of Sabbang, Baebunta, Pontaden, Meli, and Masamba city, the hardest-hit areas in Luwu Utara district.
Heavy machinery equipment has also been deployed in the area.
Head of the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency Doni Monardo added that 51 people were also injured.
As many as 14,388 residents have been taking shelter in safer grounds, he said in a statement on Saturday.
Compensation would be provided to those whose houses are destroyed by the flooding.
The natural disaster has impacted nearly 5,000 people as their houses were hit by the flash floods, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.
Earlier this year, at least 19 people were killed and thousands of people to flee their homes after heavy rains inundated both residential and commercial areas across the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
In 2019, Indonesia’s flash flood and landslides claimed 26 lives.
Landslides and flooding are common in Indonesia, especially during the monsoon season between October and April when rain lashes the vast tropical archipelago.
Earlier, flash floods and landslides killed at least 22 people in several districts across Sumatra island.
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