Trucks used to Clear out Volcanic Ash in Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta (Antara) - Dozens of trucks belonging to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) were deployed to clear out the volcanic ash spewed by Mount Kelud, which erupted on Thursday night. "Road-cleaning operations were initially conducted in the northern part of Yogyakarta because its southern region was wet following rains," Chief of the city's Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Agus Winarto stated here on Friday. Mount Kelud in the East Java province, which erupted on Thursday night (Feb.13), produced molten lava and black smoke. The ash and sand afloat in the air then spread to areas located far away from Mount Kelud. The rain of ash, sand, and rocks has mostly been reported to occur on the western side of the volcano, such as in Pacitan, Ponorogo, Wonogiri, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Sleman, Kulon Progo, Purworedjo, Kebumen, Solo, Boyolali, Salatiga, and Temanggung. Meanwhile, the volcanic ash fall blowing east of the mountain has spread across Malang, Surabaya, Banyuwangi, and Ampenan in the West Nusa Tenggara province. According to Agus Winarto, the clean-up operations will take a relatively long time as the volcanic ash was about two centimeters thick. Meanwhile, Head of the Malioboro (tourist destination) Technical Implementation Unit Syarif Teguh emphasized that the road-clearing operations in one of Yogyakarta's tourist sites were also assisted by the local community, police, and military personnel. The volcanic ash is likely to be cleared by midnight, on Friday. (*) FOTO Fikri Yusuf/14