Airport shut as Volcano erupts in Indonesia

Jakarta, Nov 4: Indonesia again closed the international airport on the resort island of Bali on Wednesday as Mount Barujari on a nearby island erupted, an official said.

“The Ngurah Rai airport of Bali was shut down again,” Xinhua quoted Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency, as saying.

The closure started from 7.05 a.m. on Wednesday till 7.45 a.m. on Thursday, he said. Volcanic ash spewed from Mount Barujari in West Nusatenggara province of Lombok Island early Wednesday, he said.

The airport was earlier shut down for four hours till late Tuesday as the volcano erupted, according to the agency. The 2,300-metre Mount Barujari, one of Indonesia’s 129 active volcanoes, began eruption on October 25.

Over 200,000 foreigners visit Bali Island every month, according to the national statistic bureau.