Karangasem - Tens of thousands
of villagers on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali are
refusing to evacuate a 10-km (six-mile) danger zone around an
erupting volcano, putting their fate in the hands of the gods or
simply staying put to protect homes and livestock.
The glowing, 3 000-metre Mount Agung, considered sacred by
many on the Hindu-majority island, started spewing huge columns
of ash at the weekend and there have been constant tremors and
volcanic mud flows since.
Search and rescue teams making daily forays into the zone
say some are refusing to leave their cattle unattended, while
others have spiritual reasons.
"The government has been clear about evacuation orders, but
some people are slow to act or want to stay," said Gede Ardana,
head of Bali’s search and rescue agency.
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"We cannot force them - but we will be held responsible, so
we need to convince them."
For cattle farmer Ketut Suwarte, there was no question of
staying put.
"There was thick ash falling around us and we could smell
sulphur. We were scared and we decided to leave immediately,”
said Suwarte, 47, now staying in an evacuation camp just outside
the danger zone.
Suwarte’s father recalls the last time Mount Agung exploded,
in 1963, killing about 1 000 people as pyroclastic flows - made
up of hot gas and volcanic matter - raced down the mountain.
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Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, of the disaster mitigation agency,
said about 43 000 people had heeded advice to take shelter, but
with an estimated population of 90 000 to 100 000 in the danger
area, many had not.
Ika Wardani, 33, sleeps with her family at an evacuation
centre at night but during the day returns to her cattle farm
about 10 km north of the volcano.
'THEY ARE STUBBORN'
"During the day at least we can see the volcano. But we're
uncomfortable sleeping here at night because an earthquake or
loud explosion would cause panic," she said. "We would have to
drive our motorbikes at night and the roads are narrow so it's
safer to spend the nights at the evacuation centre."
She says there are people only five km from the crater who
have refused to evacuate.
“They are stubborn," she said. "Some of them survived 1963
so they believe it’s all right now."
The government has set up radio stations and chat groups on
social media to warn people of the risks.
"Many people have made the decision to stay inside the
exclusion zone, and that is clearly very dangerous," said Sutopo
Purwo Nugroho, a spokesperson for the disaster management agency.
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Others, including tourists, are taking unnecessary risks by
trying to take selfies as close as possible, officials say. Last
month, a Frenchman shared a video of himself at the crater's
edge on social media.
In September, when authorities first raised the warning
alert to the highest level, an exclusion zone of up to 12 km was
imposed, prompting nearly 150 000 to leave, but when no major
eruption occurred, many returned and the warning status was
lowered.
When authorities again raised the warning level this week,
many were reluctant to move again.
"If (Mount Agung) follows the most frequent trend, it is
likely to continue increasing in explosivity – but at what rate
and how large, nobody knows," said Dr Carmen Solana, a
volcanologist at the University of Portsmouth.
President Joko Widodo on Wednesday urged people to leave the
exclusion zone before it’s too late.
"There must not be any victims," he said.