Dozens of flights to and from Indonesia’s hotel island of Bali cancelled on Wednesday. The flights cancelled after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, capturing an ash tower 10 kms (6 miles) into the sky.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) volcano on the visitor island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with government raising its alert status to final stage of a 4-tiered system.
Bali Flights Cancelled due to Massive Volcano Eruption
“Due to the volcanic interest of Lewatobi Laki-Laki in East Nusa Tenggara, several flights at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport canceled,” airport operator said.
The flights cancelled covered Jetstar and Virgin Australia services to towns throughout 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 site said.
Jetstar showed cancellations to and from Bali in a declaration on its site Wednesday. “Forecasts show the ash cloud expected to clear by later this night. As a result, this afternoon’s flights will be not on time to operate later this evening,” it said.
Several home AirAsia flights leaving for famous tourist hotspot Labuan Bajo on Flores also canceled. Bali’s Ngurah Rai airport stated that 32 flights inside and outside of the island canceled on local and international routes.
Ongoing tremors
Volcanic ash fall down on several villages round Lewotobi Laki-Laki and pressured the evacuation of at the least one village late Tuesday, country disaster mitigation company said. This is reason behind Bali Flights cancellation.
Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari release statement that tremors and eruptions still detected on Wednesday morning. “No less than 450 households from affected villages… Have settled in temporary housing geared up with light and water facilities,” he said. The geology agency said citizens and tourists should avoid wearing out any activities in at least 7 kms of the volcano’s site.
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