Indonesia Volcano Eruption Kills 10, Sets Houses Aflame

Rescuers carry away victims of a volcanic eruption in eastern Indonesia. ARNOLD WELIANTO / AFP
Rescuers carry away victims of a volcanic eruption in eastern Indonesia. ARNOLD WELIANTO / AFP
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Indonesia Volcano Eruption Kills 10, Sets Houses Aflame

Rescuers carry away victims of a volcanic eruption in eastern Indonesia. ARNOLD WELIANTO / AFP
Rescuers carry away victims of a volcanic eruption in eastern Indonesia. ARNOLD WELIANTO / AFP

A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted overnight, killing at least 10 people as it spewed fireballs and ash on surrounding villages, officials said Monday as they raised the alert to its highest level.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter (5,587-feet) twin volcano located on the popular tourist island of Flores, erupted shortly before midnight, forcing authorities to evacuate several villages, said AFP.

Residents described their horror when the crater started shooting flaming rocks at their homes.
"I was asleep when suddenly the bed shook twice, as if someone had slammed it. Then I realized the volcano had erupted, so I ran outside," said 32-year-old hairdresser Hermanus Mite.
"I saw flames coming out and immediately fled. There were ashes and stones everywhere. My salon also caught fire and everything inside was lost."
Abdul Muhari, spokesman of the country's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), confirmed the death toll at a press conference, adding that 10,295 people had been affected by the eruptions.
He said the number of evacuees was still being calculated.
An AFP journalist near the volcano said five villages were evacuated, forcing thousands of people to seek shelter elsewhere.
Buildings near the volcano were covered by thick ash while some wooden homes caught fire, and the ground was pockmarked with holes caused by flying molten rocks.
The crater erupted just before midnight and then again at 1:27 am (1727 GMT Sunday) and 2:48 am, the country's volcanology agency said.
The volcanology agency hoisted the highest alert level and told locals and tourists not to carry out activities within a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius of the crater.
"There has been a significant increase in volcanic activity on Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki," it said in a press release Monday.
It released images that showed the roofs of houses collapsed after they were hit by volcanic rocks, and locals sheltering in communal buildings.
'All in panic'
Locals said the initial eruption was masked by adverse weather conditions.
"We didn't hear any warning signs because it started with thunder and lightning," said Petrus Muda Turan, head of a village on the Catholic-majority island, adding that the dead included a baby and a young nun.
"After midnight, people finally began to evacuate in a panic. When we ran, we didn't know what to bring, so we just took ourselves."
Authorities warned there was a potential for rain-induced lava floods and advised people to wear masks to protect against volcanic ash.
Abdul from the disaster agency said an airport in Maumere, the second-largest town on Flores, had been temporarily closed and a desk had been set up for locals to report any missing relatives.
There were multiple tremors and eruptions at the volcano last week, sending columns of ash between 500 and 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) into the sky several days in a row.
Laki-Laki, which means "man" in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for "woman".
The mountain had several major eruptions in January, prompting authorities to evacuate at least 2,000 residents.
Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent eruptions due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an area of intense volcanic and seismic activity.
In December last year, an eruption at one of the country's most active volcanoes, Mount Marapi in West Sumatra, killed at least 24 climbers, most of them university students.
That month, Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times, forcing thousands of people on nearby islands to evacuate.



Taiwan’s President Departs for Pacific Visit with a 2-Day Stop in the US

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Taiwan’s President Departs for Pacific Visit with a 2-Day Stop in the US

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te waves to the media as he departs for South Pacific at Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP)

Taiwan's president departed Saturday for a trip to the South Pacific that will include a two-day transit in the US, his first since assuming office.

The planned stopovers in Hawaii and the territory of Guam have already drawn fierce criticism from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and objects to official exchanges between it and the US, the island's biggest backer and military provider.

Lai Ching-te left on a weeklong trip to visit the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau — three diplomatic allies of the self-governed island in the Pacific.

“I want to use the values of democracy, peace, and prosperity to continue to expand our cooperation with our allies, to deepen our partnership and let the world see Taiwan not just as a model of democracy, but a vital power in promoting the world's peace and stability, and prosperous development,” he said at Taoyuan International Airport ahead of his departure.

Though Taiwan retains strong contacts with dozens of other nations, it has only 12 formal diplomatic allies. The self-ruled democracy has recently been facing increasing pressure from China.

It is unclear whether Lai will meet with any members of the incoming US administration during his transit.

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg in July that Taiwan should pay for its defense. The island has purchased billions of dollars of defense weaponry from the US.

Trump evaded answering whether he would defend the island from Chinese military action. On Friday, the US State Department said it approved the sale of $385 million in spare parts and equipment for the fleet of F-16s, as well as support for tactical communication system to Taiwan.

While the US is obligated to help the island defend itself under the Taiwan Relations Act, it has maintained a position of strategic ambiguity over whether it would ever get involved if Taiwan were to be invaded by China.

A second Trump administration is expected to test US-China relations even more than the Republican’s first term, when the US imposed tariffs on more than $360 billion in Chinese products. Taiwan is one of the main sources of tension in the bilateral relationship.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday if the US wanted to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, it is important for it to handle the Taiwan issue “with utmost caution, clearly opposing Taiwan independence and supporting China’s peaceful reunification.”

She also said China firmly opposes any form of official interaction between the US and Taiwan, including visits by Taiwan’s leaders to the US for any reason.

When former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen went to the US last year as part of a transit to Latin America, it drew vocal opposition from China. Tsai met with the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the time.

The Chinese military also launched drills around Taiwan last year as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces” days after Lai, then Taiwan’s vice president, stopped over in the US

China also strongly objects to leading American politicians visiting the island as it views any official contact with foreign governments and Taiwan as an infringement on its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington switched its formal recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.