Death toll rises to 23 after eruption of Indonesian volcano Marapi
The Marapi volcano on the island of Sumatra erupted on Sunday, spewing a 3000-metre-high ash cloud into the sky. As 75 hikers were on the 2891-metre-high mountain during the eruption, the authorities launched a search operation. 52 people were rescued alive.
The 22-year-old survivor Ridho reported from his hospital bed that the eruption was very loud. "I looked around and then immediately ran away like everyone else. Some stumbled and fell. I took cover behind rocks."
The volcanic eruption continued on Wednesday. Even on Tuesday, when the search for the missing was still underway, the measuring station at Marapi had registered five more eruptions.
The name Marapi means "mountain of fire" and it is the most active volcano on Sumatra. There are almost 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The country in Southeast Asia, which consists of more than 17,000 islands, lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where several earth plates collide. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are therefore frequent.
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Source: www.stern.de
