The National Disaster Management Agency on Tuesday said the Mount Agung volcano on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, which has been rumbling for weeks, is at a critical stage.
“Rising tremors indicate that magma inside the volcano was getting closer to the surface. Chances of an eruption are high, but we can’t say when,” Sutopo Nugroho, the spokesman of agency, said.
Almost 60,000 people have fled their homes near the volcano since the government issued a red alert – the highest level of warning – on Friday.
They have sought refuge in government buildings, sports halls and in tents on open fields, as well as with relatives.
“In spite of imminent danger, thousands of others were still refusing to leave for fear that their possessions, including cattle, would be stolen,” officials said.
Report says the 3,031-metre Mount Agung last erupted for almost a year between 1963 and 1964, killing about 1,200 people.
dpa/NAN.
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