Image: Mount Barujari, located inside Mount Rinjani volcano, is seen erupting from Bayan district, North Lombok, Indonesia in this September 27, 2016 photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture taken September 27, 2016. Antara Foto/Santanu Bendesa/via REUTERS
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian rescuers on Wednesday evacuated hundreds of tourists from a volcano that erupted a day earlier and were searching for as many as 50 climbers.
Authorities closed the gates to Mount Rinjani, one of Indonesia’s most visited active volcanoes on the resort island of Lombok, next to Bali, and told visitors to keep at least three km away.
The erupting cone is called Barujari, a volcano within Mount Rinjani.
The Disaster Mitigation Agency said 1,023 tourists, including 639 foreigners, were in Mount Rinjani National Park when the volcano erupted on Tuesday afternoon, coating nearby vegetation with ash.
“Hundreds of tourists have exited Mount Rinjani and they are in good condition,” spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Wednesday.
Daniel Rosang, an official at the park, said he estimated there were up to 50 climbers still on the volcano and he believed they were safe.
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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