Mount Kelud keeps villagers on high alert

Authorities in Indonesia's densely populated East

Java province warned residents living on the slopes of Mount Kelud to stay at temporary shelters as the volcano's risk of a major eruption remained high, officials said Wednesday.

Vulcanologists placed the 1,731-metre volcano on top alert on October 16 and evacuated thousands of people living within 10 kilometres from the crater to makeshift shelters.

However, around 3,000 of more than 5,000 evacuees have returned to their homes on the slopes of the volcano, claiming it wasn't convenient to stay away for two weeks and defying warnings from local officials and scientists that the risk of a major eruption remains high.

"Mount Kelud's risk of eruption remains high, so we warned the evacuees to continue staying at the temporary shelters," Umar Rosadi, head of the emergency response team from nearby Kediri district, told DPA.