Thousands flee as volcano erupts in Indonesia

A volcano in central Indonesia spit lava and smoke thousands of feet into the air early Friday, after almost a week of small eruptions that have put residents on high alert.

Soldiers and police helped rescuers evacuate hundreds of people who live along the slopes of Mount Lokon in Indonesia.

They joined over 2,000 others who fled Wednesday after being warned to stay far from the volcano.

Masfuri of the Indonesian Red Cross Society told Vatican Radio they are still assessing the situation. “We are still trying to count the actual number of victims,” he said.

Disaster mitigation officials have raised the status of the volcano to its highest alert level, advising evacuation for about 28,000 people living within 5 kilometres of the crater.

In 1991 the last major eruption of Mount Lokon killed a Swiss hiker and forced thousands of people to flee their homes.


Listen to the report by Christopher Wells: