Mt Keluds Volcanic Activity Down: BNPB

Jakarta (Antara) - Volcanic activity at the Mount Kelud has declined but the volcano, which erupted Thursday night, continues to be under an alert status, according to National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. "Volcanic activity of Mt Kelud is already declining but tremors still continue at a moderate intensity. The danger status is still at an alert level and people within a radius of 10 kilometers must be evacuated," he said in a statement received by Antara here on Saturday. Although the mountain's volcanic activity has declined, people living around the foot of the mountain must remain alert and immediately leave their homes for a safer location in case the situation changed, he said. "Some people still remain at their homes and volunteers and rescue officers are still conducting evacuation," Sutopo, who is currently on location, said. In order to deal with the disaster, the army has meanwhile prepared 5,000 personnel and is also contributing support such as trucks and medical equipment as well as kitchen sets to help deal with the fallout of the mountain's eruption. Army spokesman Brigadier General Andika Perkasa said here on Saturday that the army has already prepared 31 trucks, 23 kitchen sets, a medical team and 23 communication sets. Army chief of staff General Budiman would leave Jakarta for Solo in Central Java by train to inspect military command posts there. From Solo, he would later inspect other TNI command posts in other locations in Central as well as East Java.(*)