Indonesia: At Least 13 Dead as Volcano Erupts with Huge Ash Cloud

At least 13 people were killed and dozens were injured by lava flow after Mount Semeru erupted on the island of Java.

Officials said several areas reported falling into darkness because of fog from volcanic ash, according to The New York Times.

Searing ash towered in the sky over the Indonesian island of Java on Saturday after the Semeru volcano erupted, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others.

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Indah Amperawati Masdar, the deputy head of East Java’s Lumajang District, near Mount Semeru, said in a news conference on Saturday that at least 41 people had suffered burns from the lava flow.

The lava nearly destroyed the village of Curahkobokan and caused a bridge to collapse, making evacuation difficult.

On Sunday, the B.N.P.B., Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, raised the death toll to 13, from one.

Maj. Gen. Suharyanto, the head of the agency, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, said at the news conference on Saturday that evacuation points had been set up in three nearby villages and in two subdistricts.

In a statement, the agency said that several areas were reporting “darkness due to fog from volcanic ash.” But as of late Saturday, air travel remained unaffected, a state-owned air navigation company said.