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Mt. Karangetang lava flow blocks road access on North Sulawesi island
Twelve junior high school students had to take shelter at a nearby school on account of the blocked road between the villages of Kiawang and Batubulan.
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Lava flows from one of the craters of Mount Karangetang on Siau Island, North Sulawesi, into the seashore. (National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)/File)
Lava flow from Mount Karangetang on Siau Island, North Sulawesi, has blocked connecting roads between two villages in the area.
As a result,12 junior high school students had to take shelter at a nearby school on account of the blocked road between the villages of Kiawang and Batubulan.
“These students would walk to their school in Kiawang but they now have to take the sea route [to go to school]. But water transportation is dangerous,” Bob Wuaten, Siau Tagulandang Biaro Islands Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Siau Tagulandang Biaro) head, told kompas.com, adding that his team was coordinating with the education agency to resolve the matter.
The volcano is located on the small island on the north eastern part of Sulawesi and a part of Siau Tagulandang Biaro Islands regency.
Aditya Gurasali, a monitoring official at the mountain, said the volcano had been given the siaga (alert) status, the second-highest level on the four-tiered volcano alert system.
He suggested that nearby residents and visitors avoid activities within a 2.5 to 4 kilometer radius of the crater.
Aditya also recommended the usage of masks to anticipate respiratory problems owing to possible ash rain.
BPBD Siau Tagulandang Biaro officials are moving people living in Niambangeng, Beba and Batubulan to outside the danger zone.
For people living near the river banks, the agency urges them to be on alert for lava-induced rain and flash floods. (mai)
