Hundreds evacuate as Indonesian volcano erupts

Jakarta - Hundreds of villagers living on the slopes of Mount Karangetang on an island in central Indonesia were evacuated after the volcano erupted, sending lava and hot ash down its slopes, officials said Monday. The 1,200-metre-high volcano on the remote island of Siau erupted about midnight Sunday, followed by another explosion four hours later Monday morning, said Agus Budiyanto, an expert at the directorate general of volcanology.

Budiyanto said there were no reports of casualties in connection with Karangetang's eruption, in which lava and hot ash avalanched 2,000 metres down its slopes.

"We have received reports from local authorities that hundreds of residents living in the danger zones had been evacuated," Budiyanto said.

North Sulawesi's provincial spokesman Jupiter Makasangkil said about 800 residents from the Dame village had been evacuated in case of a hit by lava and volcanic debris.

It was the latest eruption of Karangetang, which is on Siau Island in the northern part of the Sulawesi island chain, about 2,300 kilometres north-east of Jakarta, officials said.