President Admires Kelud Emergency Response

Jakarta (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has lauded the emergency response to Thursday night's eruption of Mount Kelud in East Java. "We can learn a lot from the emergency response process, which was run so well that there have been no fatalities resulting from Mount Kelud's eruption," President Yudhoyono said when opening a limited Cabinet meeting at his office here on Friday. The president said the emergency response procedures undertaken by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) in coordination with TNI and police personnel around the erupting volcano in East Java were still underway. "At today's meeting, we are going to be updated on the current situation and will follow it up with information on emergency response procedures," Yudhoyono noted. The head of state acknowledged that East Java Governor Soekarwo and the Brawijaya Military commander had briefed him on the situation in the field. BNPB data and information center spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated that Mount Kelud had erupted again on Thursday night, and BNPB Chairman Syamsul Maarif reported the incident to President Yudhoyono at 6 a.m. on Friday. According to Sutopo, after receiving the report from Syamsul, the head of state ordered him to cooperate with the authorities of Blitar, Kediri and Malang districts, where Mount Kelud is situated, to handle the eruption together. He noted that President Yudhoyono then ordered the BNPB to give the victims of the eruption everything they needed. Meanwhile, reports filtered in from Central Java, claiming that parts of Magelang District were blanketed by volcanic ash from the Mount Kelud eruption. "This morning at 3 a.m., there were thin ashes, but at 4:30 a.m., it started getting thicker," stated a villager, Sucoro, near the famous Borobudur Buddhist temple. Sucoro added that many villagers had come out of their homes to see the temple covered in thick volcanic ash.(*) (O001/INE/F. Assegaf)