Bali: Airport reopens as volcano activity weakens
June 30, 2018
The international airport on the Indonesian island of Bali reopened on Friday amid decreasing volcanic activity from Mount Agung.
"Volcanic ash from Mount Agung this morning is weaker in intensity, up to 300 meters," a National Disaster Management Agency spokesman said.
All airports on Bali and the surrounding area, including Jember and Banyuwangi in East Java, are operating normally, he added. Authorities have kept the warning alert to the pre-maximum level and have kept in place a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) danger zone around the volcano's crater.
Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport closed for 12 hours after Mount Agung erupted on Thursday, sending a 2,500-meter column of volcanic ash into the air. Ash can clog aircraft engines and cause them to "flame out."
Nearly 450 flights were canceled and tens of thousands of passengers were left stranded. Officials also helped evacuate some 300 nearby residents.
The 3,031-meter Mount Agung has been active since November and an eruption in December forced Ngurah Rai airport to close temporarily.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, areas of volcanic activity that mark the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Some 1,200 people were killed in 1963 during Mount Agung's last deadly eruption.
amp/sms (dpa, AFP)