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Bali’s main airport closed as volcanic ash spreads
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Highest alert: Thick smoke emanates from the crater of Mount Agung in Karangasem, Bali, as it erupts again on Saturday. (Courtesy of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency/File)
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gurah Rai International Airport, the main gateway for tourists to Bali, has been closed temporarily since 7:15 a.m. on Monday due to volcanic ash from Mount Agung.
"We have conducted a meeting this morning and decided to suspend the airport’s operation for safety reasons," said Herson, the head of the airports authority for Bali and East Nusa Tenggara.
"We have received reports from pilots that volcanic ash has reached the area above the airport. We conducted an observation and found that that is true, so we decided to close the airport," he said.
The airport is scheduled to be reopened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
Herson said an assessment of the situation would be conducted every six hours. "We evaluate every six hours for an update on the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, the alert status of Mount Agung was upgraded from the third to the fourth level on Monday morning. (bbn)
