Volcano: Bali airport to remain closed for 24 hrs more

Indonesia has decided to extend the Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport closure by a day more.

The country's transportation ministry on Tuesday took the decision as ash continued to erupt from the island's Mount Agung volcano. The airport was earlier scheduled to be opened today. It will remain closed until 7 am (local time) on November 29.

Local reports quoted the ministry as saying that some channels of the aircraft flight were engulfed with volcanic ash. Earlier, Malaysia Airlines cancelled all flights between Kuala Lumpur and Denpasar-Bali following the volcanic activity at Mount Agung. Indonesia has also raised an alert for the volcano on the tourist island of Bali and has ordered evacuation of people within 10 kilometres.

The eruption at Mount Agung has become magmatic, the country's disaster management agency said, warning that a larger eruption could be imminent. As a result, the alert status for the surrounding area has been raised to level 4, the highest level. Mount Agung spewed smoke reportedly as high as 4,000 m above its summit and disrupted at least 28 flights departing and arriving at the island.

The region around Mount Agung has been on alert since late September when more than 140,000 people were told to evacuate over fears of an imminent eruption. Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, killing nearly 1,600 people in one of Indonesia's most devastating eruptions. Bali airport is located about 60 kms from the volcano.

-ANI