An erupting Indonesian volcano forced the closure of five airports
on Friday (July 10), including on Bali.
It caused about 350 flights to be cancelled and stranding thousands
of holidaymakers.
The international airport on popular Lombok island was also among
those closed late on Thursday as Mount Raung on the main island of
Java spewed clouds of ash, the transport ministry said.
The closures came during peak holiday season in Bali.
“It’s pretty chaotic,” Ms Katie Nagar, an American expatriate
living in Indonesia told AFP.
She described arriving at the domestic terminal in Bali’s Ngurah
Rai airport to discover her flight to Jakarta on Garuda had been
cancelled and rescheduled to Sunday (July 12).
“There’s basically just hundreds of people camped out on the grassy
lawns in front of the airport. There’s lines of hundreds of people
waiting to talk to customer service.”
Passengers wait in the international terminal at Ngurah Rai Airport
in Bali on Friday. PHOTO: ANTARA FOTO/REUTERS
An AFP reporter in the international terminal estimated about 1,000
people were stranded there, with some trying to seek information
from airport officials while others were sitting or sleeping on the
floor.
Mr Trikora Harjo, general manager at Ngurah Rai, said that 330
flights — 160 domestic and 170 international — had so far been
cancelled at the airport due to the ash cloud.
“Right now the authorities have declared that the airport will be
closed until 9.30 pm (9.30pm, Singapore time), totally closed,” he
said.
Garuda said it had cancelled a total of 112 flights on Friday (July
10).
Authorities raised the alert status of Mount Raung, a 3,300-metre
(10,800-foot) volcano, late last month to the second highest level
after it began to spew lava and ash high into the air.
Government vulcanologist Surono said eruptions were continuing at
the volcano on Friday, and it was producing flames and a thundering
sound. But authorities said no evacuations were necessary as those
living in the area were already a safe distance away.
Source: AFP
TNP