A major volcanic eruption in Indonesia shrouded a large swath of the country's most heavily populated island in ash on Friday, triggering the evacuation of more than 100,000 people and the closure of three international airports after killing two people. The explosive overnight eruption of Java island's Mount Kelud could be heard up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) away, AP quoted Indonesia's disaster agency as saying. The ash cloud reached 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the atmosphere and fell to earth in towns and cities across the region, including Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and even farther afield in Yogyakarta, where motorists switched on headlights in daylight. Kediri, a town about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the mountain, was largely deserted as residents stayed indoors to avoid the choking ash. Some residents were shoveling the ash and grit into sacks to use for the construction of buildings or to fertilize crops. One collector said that middlemen had already told him they would pay up to $56 for a small truck filled with the debris. Two people were killed when the roofs of their homes collapsed under the weight of the ash and volcanic debris unleashed during the eruption, the disaster agency said. International airports in Yogyakarta, Solo and Surabaya were closed due to reduced visibility and the dangers posed to aircraft engines by ash, Transport Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said. The disaster agency said tremors were still wracking the volcano, but that scientists didn't expect another major eruption. It said all villages within 10 kilometers (6 miles) of Kelud - more than 100,000 people - had been evacuated to temporary shelters, but that elsewhere villagers had returned to their homes to begin cleaning up. The 1,731-meter-high (5,680-foot-high) Mount Kelud in eastern Java - Indonesia's most densely populated island and home to more than half of the country's 240 million people - has been rumbling for several weeks and was under close observation. Kelud is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the so-called 'Ring of Fire'.
