6 killed by hot lava as Indonesia volcano erupts

[August 10, 2013]  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Gushing hot lava from an erupting volcano killed six people sleeping in a beach village in eastern Indonesia on Saturday, after ash and smoke shot up to 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) into the air, a disaster official said.

Mount Rokatenda in East Nusa Tenggara province erupted early Saturday morning, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from the area on Palue island. The volcano has been rumbling since October 2012.

The victims included three adults and two children, said agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. He said the age of the sixth person killed was unclear and that the children's bodies had not been recovered from Ponge beach in Rokirole village.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 240 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.

[Associated Press]

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