Indonesia Volcano Death Toll Rises to 25

MOUNT MERAPI, KOMPAS.com - The death toll from the eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi rose to 25 on Wednesday, including an elder known as the volcano’s spiritual gatekeeper, officials said.

The traditional gatekeeper, Mbah or grandfather Marijan, was found dead in his burnt house about four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the peak, local officials said.

According to Kompas.com, the evacuation team found a male dead body in a position of bowing to do a prayer at the house of the traditional gatekeeper on Wednesday. The team has not been able to identify the identity of the body. Head of Public Relations and Legal of  Dr Sardjito Hospital, Heru Trisna Nugraha, said, the body suspected to be Mbah Maridjan is still kept at forensics unit of the hospital.

No eruptions had been recorded since Tuesday when Mount Merapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, sent searing gas and molten lava into the sky on at least 10 occasions, a government expert said. “Although Merapi has not erupted again since yesterday, people should remain in shelters,” volcanologist Surono said.

Authorities may have saved many lives when they ordered thousands of people to flee from a 10-kilometre danger zone on Monday, after raising the threat level for the volcano to red, the highest possible. The order affected about 19,000 people but it was not clear how many had obeyed and moved to temporary shelters.

The 2,914-metre (9,616-foot) Mount Merapi, 400 kilometres east of Jakarta, is the most active of the 69 volcanoes with histories of eruptions in Indonesia. It last erupted in June 2006 killing two people, but its deadliest eruption occurred in 1930 when more than 1,300 people were killed. Heat clouds from another eruption in 1994 killed more than 60 people.

The volcano has special significance for the people of Java island as it is one of four places where officials from the royal palaces of Yogyakarta and Solo make annual offerings to placate the spirits of Javanese mythology.