JAKARTA, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Hot ash from an erupting volcano in Indonesia has forced the evacuation of thousands of people from the mountain's slopes, officials said.
Mount Merapi in central Java erupted three times Tuesday in what experts say is likely the start of an ongoing eruption phase, Xinhua reported.
"Since appearing at 5:02 and 5:23 p.m. the huge heat clouds have soared high out of the mountain's crater. It means that Mount Merapi has entered the phase of eruption. We do not expect an even larger eruption than this," Surono, the head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency, told the Jakarta Globe.
An officer at the Merapi monitoring post said villages on the slopes of the 9,700-foot-tall volcano were being evacuated.
"We are in the process of evacuating people, especially those who are living in Sleman and Magelang," he said.
There were some reports of people injured by the hot ash, Xinhua reported.
