A villager ran as Mount Sinabung erupted in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. S Aditya/Reuters

Indonesian residents rescued a victim after Mount Sinabung erupted in Karo district. Sutanta Aditya/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Villagers and a journalist prepared to flee as Mount Sinabung released pyroclastic flows. Associated Press

A villager looked on as Mount Sinabung spewed clouds of volcanic ash. Chaideer Mahyuddin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Rescuers in Karo district recovered the body of a victim. Sutanta Aditya/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The rumbling volcano in western Indonesia has unleashed clouds of searing gas. Associated Press

A woman fled as Mount Sinabung erupted near the village of Bekerah. Sutanta Aditya/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Major Volcanic Eruption Kills at Least 14 in Indonesia

International New York Times | 1 Feb. 2014

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An active volcano on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island unexpectedly erupted again on Saturday, killing at least 14 people and spreading toxic clouds of hot ash that hampered search and rescue teams, officials said. 

The teams planned to resume searching Sunday morning for more victims and survivors of the eruption of the volcano, Mount Sinabung. Three people were reported injured, and officials warned that the volcano could erupt again and that the death toll was likely to rise.

Among the victims were local residents checking on their homes after the eruption, a journalist and a group of high school students and their teacher who were trying to get a closer look at the volcano, said Yopie Haryadi, a spokesman for Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency.

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  Video: Picking Through a Volcano’s DestructionFEB. 1, 2014

He said that there were no reports of anyone missing but that it was possible more people were in the area when Mount Sinabung, which lies in North Sumatra Province and has been erupting for weeks, spewed hot ash again around 10:20 a.m. on Saturday.

The 14 victims were recovered on Saturday, the agency spokesman said. “No one is reported missing, but we don’t know for sure,” he said. “Sometimes people can come and go to check on their homes. We will try to search again, but we have to wait until the situation is clear, given the hot clouds.”

He said the victims were found in the village of Suka Meriah, which lies within a three-mile exclusion zone around the volcano’s crater. Around 30,000 people have been evacuated from the area in the weeks after Mount Sinabung resumed erupting in November. 

In January, the volcano was erupting dozens of times a day, but it had quieted down in recent days. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a visit to the disaster zone on Jan. 23 to comfort displaced residents camped out in evacuation centers and discuss reconstruction efforts.

On Friday, local authorities allowed nearly 14,000 people living outside the three-mile danger zone to return home after volcanic activity decreased, The Associated Press reported. Others living close to the peak have been returning home over the past four months despite the dangers.

On Saturday, a series of huge blasts and eruptions from the 8,530-foot-high volcano sent lava and rock flows up to nearly three miles away, according to news reports. Local television reports during the weekend showed giant gray clouds cloaking Mount Sinabung’s crater, and farms and roads around the volcano covered in ash.

Television news footage showed people bringing the bodies of some of the 14 victims down the mountain in makeshift rescue vehicles and on motorbikes.

After the eruption, all those who had been allowed to return home on Friday were ordered back into evacuation centers, The A.P. reported.