JAKARTA (UCAN): Rescuers in Indonesia were still finding bodies on December 10, a week after a deadly eruption in East Java province killed dozens of people and displaced thousands of others.
The continuing search under thick layers of ash and debris dumped by the December 4 eruption of Mount Semeru—the country’s highest and one of its most active volcanoes—has uncovered 44 bodies so far, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
At least 16 other people were still missing presumed dead and more than 6,000 others remain displaced, the agency said.
Some 11 villages in Lumajang district were buried by volcanic ash that covered more than 2,500 houses and killed large numbers of livestock.
Aid efforts are being stepped up, including from the Catholic Church, which is focusing on distributing urgent humanitarian assistance to the survivors.
Carmelite Brother Marco Pantja Anugrah Putra, coordinator of the Human Solidarity Team of the Diocese of Malang, said the diocese was working with Caritas Indonesia [Karina] to help people in Lumajang.
He said volunteers were distributing food, tents, blankets, drugs and bedding to victims. A mobile kitchen has also been set up to provide hot meals for victims and volunteers. “We also brought in doctors and nurses to treat the injured,” Brother Putra said.
Father Paulus Fajar Ariwiyatno from Mary Queen of Peace Church in Lumajang, said teams were also looking to provide aid in 13 other locations but efforts were hampered by blocked roads.
Government experts believe the eruption was triggered by days of heavy rain that wore away a hardened lava dome in the crater that had acted as a plug.
“A big mass of the dome’s volume was lost after a heavy spell of rain that day,” CNN Indonesia quoted Eko Budi Lelono from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as saying.
Further eruptions since December 4 have also hindered efforts as pyroclastic clouds of ash, rock and volcanic gases have posed an even greater threat than the lava spewing from the volcano.
Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president, visited several disaster sites on December 7 and vowed to relocate at least 2,000 families living near the volcano.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis said he was praying for the victims in a December 8 telegramme to the apostolic nuncio for Indonesia, Archbishop Piero Pioppo. The pope said he was saddened to learn of the recent loss of life and destruction caused by the eruption.
