Volcano Eruption Indonesia: Searching for Missing Tourists
Reportedly 389 tourists are "missing", believed to be trapped in the area around Mount Rinjani in East Lombok. On Tuesday afternoon (27/09) the 3.7 kilometers high Mount Barujari, located close to Mount Rinjani, erupted. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), said authorities are doing their best to locate these tourists, find out their condition and evacuate them. Indonesian authorities have already evacuated more than 1,000 people (mostly foreign and domestic tourists) from the area.
According to visitor data from Mount Rinjani National Park, there were 333 foreign tourists and 56 domestic tourists entering the national park between Sunday and Tuesday. Usually people visit the area to climb mountains in the area. On Tuesday Mount Barujari began erupting, spewing volcanic ash some 2,000 meters above its crater. So far there have not been any reports of injuries or fatalities.
Being located on the Pacific Ring of Fire Indonesia has to cope with the constant risk of volcanic eruptions. It is estimated that Indonesia has some 129 active volcanoes and there occurs at least one big volcano eruption per year, on average.
Read more: Volcano Eruptions and other Natural Disasters in Indonesia
