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Police evacuate volcano villagers | |
(1 day later) | |
Armed police have forced residents near an Indonesian volcano to evacuate their homes, amid fears of an eruption. | |
More than 100,000 people have already been moved from the slopes of Mount Kelud - but many have returned to their villages or have refused to leave. | |
Police chief Tjuk Basuki said the authorities "had no choice" but to force villagers to evacuate. | |
Earlier in the week officials raised the alert on Mount Kelud, on the island of Java, to maximum. | |
The volcano last erupted in 1990, killing dozens of people. | |
Scientists say the current delay could increase the power of the eruption when it finally occurs, possibly making it more devastating than the 1990 disaster. | |
'No signs' | |
Earlier this week, the authorities ordered the evacuation of some 116,000 people from a 10km (6 mile) zone near Mount Kelud. | Earlier this week, the authorities ordered the evacuation of some 116,000 people from a 10km (6 mile) zone near Mount Kelud. |
But some people have been reluctant to leave their crops untended, and have complained about the inadequate food and shelter provided for them. | But some people have been reluctant to leave their crops untended, and have complained about the inadequate food and shelter provided for them. |
"We turned off the lights so that the police thought we had left," a local villager named as Sugiyem told Reuters. | |
"I am afraid of the mountain erupting but so far there have been no signs - the trees near the crater are still green, animals such as monkeys, snakes and hogs haven't come down." | |
Sugiyem and her family were eventually forced to leave by the authorities. | |
Col Basuki told the Associated Press villagers had been warned repeatedly of the danger they were in. | |
"If we don't force them - in this case with a showing of firearms - the villagers would not budge," he said. | |
In 1919 about 5,000 people died when Mount Kelud erupted, ejected scalding water from its crater lake and destroying hundreds of villages. | |
Indonesia, part of the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is frequently shaken by earth tremors and volcanoes. | Indonesia, part of the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, is frequently shaken by earth tremors and volcanoes. |
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