Thousands flee Bali volcano for temporary shelters

Bali airport has reopened allowing some tourists to flee the rumbling Mount Agung. Thousands of local residents have also been forced to take shelter in temporary accommodation.

Authorities have told 100,000 people to leave homes nearest the volcano, though tens of thousands stayed because they felt safe or didn't want to abandon livestock.

Children sleep on the floor in temporary shelters 
Children sleep on the floor in temporary shelters  Credit: APTN

Some have fled to a temporary shelter set up in the village of Manggis in Padangbai.

"Ash covered my house, on the floor, the walls, the banana trees outside, everywhere!," explained one evacuee, Wayan Lanus, who fled with his family to the temporary shelter.

Agung's last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano's alert to the highest level and expanded an exclusion zone to 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the crater.

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