Robert Besser
08 Dec 2021, 20:43 GMT+10
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Rescue personnel in Indonesia are facing the arduous task of looking for survivors in villages blanketed by searing ash following the eruption of Mount Semeru on the island of Java on December 4.
Emergency staff pegged the death count in the eruption to have reached 14, while several dozen individuals reportedly suffered from injuries, including burns.
A person volunteering in Lumajang District, located in proximity to the eruption site, spoke of personnel from the military and police toiling away to retrieve bodies, in the absence of any equipment.
The volcanic ash reached roofline levels of residences, while vehicles seemingly disappeared under a blanket of ash.
In conversation with Reuters, Taufiq Ismail Marzuqi, who filmed the painstaking excavation for bodies, spoke of the rescue endeavors being "very dire."
Volcanic ash swamped no fewer than eleven villages in East Java's Lumajang, with at least 56 people having suffered injuries, including burns.
"Some 10 people were swept away by the mud flow," according to Kampung Renteng resident Salim, as reported by the BBC.
A man searching for survivors said that ten village residents were missing, while a resident recalled the eruption.
"Locals here thought it was just usual floods. We did not know it was hot mud. All of sudden, the sky turned dark as rains and hot smoke came. Thankfully, it was raining so we could breathe," according to the AFP.
Meanwhile, an Indonesian disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) representative confirmed that treatment was being administered to those who suffered injuries at several medical institutions and hospitals.
Evacuations of some 1,300 individuals were confirmed by the BNPB, while ten sand mining staff trapped in nearby buildings were rescued.
Get a daily dose of Philadelphia Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Philadelphia Herald.
More InformationJEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: In a Twitter post published this week, Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding said it had invested in Russian ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stock markets across the Asia Pacific region rallied on Wednesday.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 353.86 ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh A preliminary investigation into the tragic crane accident that killed five people in Uttara on Monday has found ...
HANOI, Vietnam: The Vietnamese government is considering building a high-speed railway, with a possible cost of up to $58.7 billion, ...
NEW YORK, New York - Stocks were decidedly mixed in the U.S. on Tuesday as investors struggled to make a ...
DELHI, India: Dubbed the country's Warren Buffett, India's best-known stock investor and self-made billionaire, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, died on August 14 ...
As China unleashed live-fire military exercises off the coast of Taiwan, simulating a real "reunification by force" operation in the ...
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar - According to a legal official, a court in Myanmar has sentenced former leader Aung San Suu Kyi ...
BEIJING, China: Following a meeting between their foreign ministers, China and Nepal have agreed to build the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity ...
BEIJING, China: Several regions in China experienced temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, including the major southwestern city of Chongqing.The country's ...
SACRAMENTO, California: California Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing to give a $1.4 billion government loan to extend the life of ...
NEW DELHI, India: A government order released to reporters this week said New Delhi will continue to enforce a mask ...