Volcanic Ash Cancels Jakarta Flights

Some International airlines canceled flights into and out of Jakarta on Saturday because of ash spewing from the Mount Merapi volcano.

Airport authorities said up to 10 percent of the 1,200 flights at the Indonesian capital's airport were canceled. But they suggested the 11 carriers' cancellations were premature because ash from the erupting volcano more than 200 miles to the east had not reached Jakarta.

The volcano continued to rumble and groan on Saturday, at times spitting ash up to two miles into the sky.  Merapi staged its most thunderous eruptions on Friday - blasts that volcano experts said were Merapi's biggest since the 1870s.

Various airlines canceled flights, including Singapore Airlines, Air Asia, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, China AIrlines, Korean Air, Tiger Air and the local airline Mandala.  Closer to the volcano, the Yogyakarta international airport is closed.

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia, where he lived part of his childhood, on Tuesday as part of his 10-day Asian trip.

Indonesian Volcano Erupts Again

Mount Merupi erupted again on Friday, killing at least 12 people, latest deaths bring the total toll to more than 100 since the country's most active volcano started erupting on October 26.

Over 50 other people were admitted to hospital with burns and other injuries.

Many of the dead were children from Argomulyo village, 11 miles from the crater of the volcano, according to witnesses and emergency response officials.

Men with ash-covered faces streamed down Mount Merapi on motorcycles followed by truckloads of women and crying children, following the massive eruption.

Almost 70,000 villagers have been evacuated from a six-mile radius around the volatile volcano, which has been spewing lava and clouds of ash almost continuously. The powerful blasts have hampered efforts to bring aid to those who fled their homes and are now living in makeshift camps.

Indonesian Volcano Erupts

An Indonesian volcano that has been dormant for hundreds of years erupted for a second straight day on Monday, forcing thousands of people out of their homes.

Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra has long been considered inactive because it last erupted more than 400 years ago.

It erupted for the first time over the weekend and erupted again early Monday, spewing clouds of soot and ash into the air, the Indonesian meteorology agency said.

As many as 30,000 people who live near the mountain have fled their homes, freelance journalist Michel Maas reported.

Maas said villagers living along the slopes have packed their belongings and headed to emergency shelters, mosques and churches.

Health officials have been distributing thousands of face masks to help people protect themselves from the ash and smoke billowing into the air.

While two people have died — a 64-year-old woman from respiratory problems and a 52-year-old man from a heart attack — it was too early to say if the volcano was to blame, said Priyadi Kardono of the National Disaster Management Agency.

Sinabung last erupted in 1600, so observers don't know its eruption pattern and admitted over the weekend that they had not been monitoring it closely before it started rumbling days ago in the lead-up to Sunday's first, less-powerful blast.