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Volcano re-erupts in Indonesia, triggering panic

Xinhua, July 15, 2011

A volcano in Indonesia's North Sulawesi re-erupted at midnight Thursday, triggering panic and a massive evacuation of the people living in the dangerous zone of 3. 5 kilometers from the volcano, the country's volcanology agency and disaster management agency reported earlier Friday.

Mount Lokon, which had an eruption Monday, erupted again at 23: 30 p.m. (1630 GMT), Thursday, spewing ash by up to 1,500 meter high and spreading hot lava to the slope, Farid Ruskan Bina, a volcanologist monitoring the 1,750-meter volcano told Xinhua.

The eruption triggered panic among residents living in the evacuation zone and forced thousands of them to flee, Furqon Sapid Setianto, an official of the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency at the scene, told Xinhua by phone.

The number of new evacuees has been predicted to be about 4,000 people, which brought the total number of evacuees to over 7,000 people, Arnold Poly, a senior official of local Disaster Management and Mitigation Agency, told Xinhua by phone.

Over one thousand soldiers, policemen, government officials and volunteers have been facilitating the evacuation, said Poly.

About 55 vehicles, including trucks and minivans have been used to transfer people to safe areas, he said.

The number of evacuation centers have increased to over 20 from five on Thursday morning, said Poly. Schools, office buildings as well as a sport stadium have been occupied to shelter evacuees, he said. "We prepare the shelters for more evacuees. Tomorrow there will be more people coming to the shelters," said Poly.

The official also said that the authorities are still lack of supplies, like blankets and tents, as well as medicines.

Volcanologists raised alert level of Mount Lokon on Sunday evening, declaring the evacuation zone and suggesting evacuation for local residents. The volcano had some minor eruptions this week.

Mount Lokon is one of the 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, whose latest explosion was in 1991, killing a Swiss hiker with thousands of people forced to leave home.