The International airport of Bali has been shut down for the second day by the Indonesian officials Mount Agung continues to spew volcanic ash in to the atmosphere. Mount Agung began erupting since last week and huge plumes of dark ash can be seen reaching about three kilometers above the active volcano.
The highest levels of volcanic ash was noticed by the officials on November 27, 2017, with a fear of a possibility of an eruption. More than 1,00,000 people have been asked to evacuate the region around the volcano. The volcanic ash has the ability to damage the engines of the aircrafts and can also cause them to fail. They can also clog the fuel and cooling system.
There is also fear of hampering of the pilot’s visibility. The Ngurah Rai (Denpasar)airport was shut down by the transport ministry on November 27, 2017 for 24 hours , which led to the cancellation of 400 flights and stranded more than 59,000 travellers. It was further announced on November 28, 2017 that they would extend the closure to November 29, 2017.
Spokesperson for the National Disaster Agency of Indonesia, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that the ash was being drawn to the southwest direction towards the main airport of Bali by a tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean. On the other hand the airport on the Lombok Island has been re-opened and the authorities have made arrangements for buses to take the tourists to be taken to the terminals. The active volcano is located about 70 kms from some of the popular tourist areas of Kuta and Seminyak. The disaster agency further issued a statement on Novemner 28, 2017 saying that the volcano is still emitting thick ash clouds and that there were also rays of flares of the glowing lava which were observed overnight. Apart from ash, streams of rock with water which are also known as lahar were also spotted flowing down the volcano.
Photo Credits: BBC
