PADANG, Indonesia (AP) — Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud running down the slopes of a volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra triggered flash floods that killed at least 15 people and injured several others, authorities said Sunday.
Monsoon rains and a massive landslide caused by a cold lava flow on Mount Marapi caused a river to break its banks and flow through mountain villages in Agam and Tanah Datar districts in West Sumatra province shortly before the midnight on Saturday. The floods swept away people and submerged more than 100 houses and buildings, said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Abdul Muhari.
Cold lava, also known as lahar, is a mixture of volcanic material and pebbles that runs down the slopes of a volcano in rain.
As of Sunday, rescue teams had removed 11 bodies in the worst-hit village, Canduang, and recovered another four bodies in the neighboring village of Sungai Pua, Muhari said.
The agency said in a statement that at least seven residents were injured by the floods and that rescue teams were searching for other possible victims. He said 60 people had fled to temporary government shelters.
The disaster occurred just two months later Heavy rains caused flash floods and landslides in the Pesisir Selatan and Padang Pariaman districts of West Sumatra, killing at least 21 people and leaving five others missing.
The 2,885-meter (9,465-foot) Mount Marapi erupted late last year, killing 23 climbers who were caught in a surprise eruption over the weekend. The volcano has remained at the third-highest level of four alert levels since 2011, indicating above-normal volcanic activity under which climbers and residents should stay more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the peak, according to the Center of Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation in Indonesia. .
Marapi is known for sudden eruptions which are difficult to predict because the source is shallow and close to the peak, and its eruptions are not caused by deep movement of magma, which triggers tremors that are recorded on seismic monitors.
Marapi has been active since an eruption in January 2023 that caused no casualties. It is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is subject to seismic disturbances due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines that surround the Pacific Basin.
