At least two dozen flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali have been cancelled, its international airport website showed on Wednesday (Jun 18), after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10km into the sky.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703m twin-peaked volcano on the eastern tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with authorities raising its alert status to the highest level.

The flights cancelled included Jetstar and Virgin Australia flights to cities across Australia, with Air India, Air New Zealand, Singapore’s TigerAir and China’s Juneyao Airlines also cancelling flights “due to volcano”, Bali’s international airport website said.

Several domestic AirAsia flights leaving for Labuan Bajo on Flores were also cancelled.

“Ngurah Rai is still operating normally but it depends on the flight schedule, but some of the flights are cancelled due to a volcano. It depends on the route and also the airline,” a Bali airport customer service agent who declined to give their name told AFP.

Volcanic ash rained down on several villages around Lewotobi Laki-Laki and forced the evacuation of at least one village late on Tuesday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

In November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

Source: AFP

- Agencies