Indonesia volcano spews ash more than 6 miles into sky, dozens of Bali flights cancelled

By Laura Sharman, June 18: A volcanic eruption in Indonesia sent an enormous ash cloud more than six miles into the sky, disrupting or cancelling dozens of flights to and from the tourist island of Bali.

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted at 5:35 pm local time on Tuesday, unleashing a 6.8-mile (11-kilometre) hot ash column over the tourist island of Flores in south-central Indonesia, the country’s Geology Agency said.

Images showed an orange mushroom-shaped cloud engulfing the nearby village of Talibura, with sightings reported up to 93 miles (150km) away.

Officials issued the country’s highest alert and urged tourists to stay away.

Dozens of flights were halted in Bali, according to the Denpasar International Airport website, which marked the disruptions “due to the  volcano.”

They included domestic routes to Jakarta and Lombok as well as others to Australia, China, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport was closed until Thursday, “to ensure the safety of the passengers,” airport operator AirNav said in an Instagram post.

Singapore’s Changi Airport website shows Jetstar and Scoot cancelled flights to Balion Wednesday morning while AirAsia called off its midday flight to the Indonesian capital.

Holidaymakers Athirah Rosli, 31, and her husband Fadzly Yohannes, 33, woke up this morning to discover that their Jetstar flight home from Bali to Singapore was cancelled.

“My first reaction was annoyed and panicked, but I calmed down almost immediately,” Rosli told CNN.

“My husband and I looked at new flights, booked more accommodation and insurance and then had breakfast at our hotel,” she said.

“I see it was a blessing in disguise that we’re safe and well.”

Recent rumblings

The volcano’s eruption follows significant volcanic activities, including 50 in two hours, up from the average of eight to 10 activities per day.

The 5,197-foot (1,584-meter) twin volcano erupted again Wednesday morning, spewing a 0.62-mile (1km) ash cloud, officials confirmed.

Dozens of residents in two nearby villages were evacuated, according to Avi Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency.

A danger zone is in place around five miles (8km) from the crater, and residents have been warned about the potential for heavy rainfall triggering lava flows in rivers flowing from the volcano.

Tourists affected

More than a thousand tourists have been affected, particularly those travelling to Bali and Komodo National Park, famed for its Komodo dragons, according to a local tour operator.

Sales worker Remdy Doule, from Come2Indonesia travel agency in Bali, told CNN: “We were looking at more than 1,000 tourists being affected with the cancellations.”

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki last erupted in May, when authorities also raised the alert level to the most severe.

A previous eruption in March forced airlines to cancel and delay flights into Bali, around 500 miles (800km) away, including Australia’s Jetstar and Qantas Airways.

In November, the volcano erupted multiple times killing nine people, injuring dozens and forcing thousands to flee and flights to be cancelled.

Indonesian, home to 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes and experiences frequent seismic activity.

The archipelago sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.