MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia: A deadly volcano in Indonesia spewed another searing cloud of ash down its slopes Sunday, prompting panic and chaos among thousands of villagers who had taken advantage of a lull in activity to rush home and check on their livestock. The new blast came as rescuers hundreds of miles away finally were able to resume food deliveries and evacuate injured victims of a tsunami triggered by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near a chain of remote islands off western Sumatra. The number of people killed in the twin catastrophes climbed to almost 500 Sunday. Sirens and loudspeakers blared, and people jumped into rivers trying to escape Mount Merapi's latest fury, while others sprinted down the mountain or sped off in cars and trucks, local disaster official Rusdiyanto said. It wasn't clear if there were any new casualties Sunday, though an official said the ash cloud was not near populated areas. The volcano has killed 38 people since it began erupting Tuesday. The notoriously unpredictable mountain had been mostly quiet Sunday after letting out its most powerful eruption of the week the previous day, sending fiery lava oozing down its slopes, temporarily closing a nearby airport and claiming another life. In the morning, a red glow emanated from the volcano's peak, but the violent bursts and rumbling of the past 48 hours were reduced to a mere murmur. Despite the risk and warnings from officials, thousands of the more than 53,000 people who had been evacuated from the danger zone rushed back Sunday morning to check on their livestock high up on the scorched slopes. “My farm has been destroyed by volcanic debris and thick dust. ... All I have left now are my cows and goats,” said Subarkah, who lives less than two miles (three kilometers) from the peak. “I have to find grass and bring it up to them, otherwise they'll die.” Since the eruptions began Tuesday, officials have struggled to keep villagers off the slopes of Merapi, which means Fire Mountain. More than 2,000 troops had to be called in Saturday to force men, women and children to leave. The eruption Sunday lasted 46 minutes but was smaller than previous ones, said Surono, chief of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. The mountain shot dust about a mile into the air and a cloud of hot ash a half mile down its eastern and southern slopes.
